Maltraitance durant l’enfance et régulation de la tristesse et de la peur à l’âge adulte : une analyse qualitative
Introduction : Childhood maltreatment is associated with several negative impacts on mental health, which are partly attributable to difficulties with emotional regulation. Although various studies suggest a link between general difficulties with emotional regulation in adults and childhood experiences of maltreatment, emotional regulation related to specific emotions and emotional contexts is yet to be explored. Aims : The two studies which constitute this thesis aim to (1) depict a precise qualitative portrait of emotional regulation of adult women who experienced childhood maltreatment and (2) describe more specifically the regulation of sadness and fear related to childhood abuse, two emotions which are often negatively perceived and therefore usually avoided. Method : University of Montreal students were recruited for the purpose of two larger studies on sadness (N = 72) and anxiety (N = 128) and completed online questionnaires. Based on their Childhood Trauma Questionnaire scores measuring experiences of childhood maltreatment, twelve women reporting a significant level of abuse (maltreated group) and twelve women reporting no such experience (normative group) were selected, this for each of the two emotions (2 x 12+12). Each participant was individually met and an induction of sadness or fear by film was used to target and explore emotional regulation in an experimental setting, which focuses on the emotional experience in real time. An interpretative phenomenological qualitative analysis was performed on each participant’s emotional speech. A between-group comparison was also done to provide a rich and precise description of the regulation of each group and get a contrast between them. Results : Overall, the results of the first study indicate that sadness appears less regulated for women who report childhood maltreatment and that this emotion is experienced by them at either a minimized or an overwhelming level. Several negative attitudes toward sadness emerge from the discourse of maltreated women, while women in the normative group present a more nuanced experience of this emotion and attitudes toward it. In the second study, fear appears as experienced at a pathological level and through somatization in the maltreated group, while the normative group presents a more detached experience of this emotion. Conclusion : The results of both studies allow us to shed light on live emotional regulation among women who experienced childhood maltreatment and to describe specific deficits in the regulation of sadness and fear. Intervention issues and clinical reflections based on the results are discussed.
Abus Maltreatment Childhood abuse Childhood neglect Emotional regulation Sadness Fear