Ai Xu,1,* Fangfang Long,2,* Mingjun Teng,3 Wenpei Zhang,4 Lulu Hou1,5 

1School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Psychology, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Marxism, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Business Administration, School of Business, Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 5Lab for Educational Big Data and Policymaking (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Wenpei Zhang, Department of Business Administration, Anhui University of Technology, Maxiang Road 1530, Yushan District, Ma’anshan, Anhui Province, 243000, People’s Republic of China, Email zwpahut@ahut.edu.cn Lulu Hou, School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Guilin Road 100, Xuhui District, Shanghai, 200234, People’s Republic of China, Email hoululu2020@shnu.edu.cn

Introduction: Childhood maltreatment represents a widespread global public health issue that is closely linked to a variety of emotional symptoms, such as depression and anxiety. Considering these symptoms are often linked to common problems in emotional functioning, this study aimed to examine the patterns of childhood maltreatment and their association with three core aspects of emotional functioning: emotional reactivity, alexithymia, and emotion regulation.
Methods: In total, 945 Chinese college students (mean age: 21.53 ± 1.15 years) completed the Chinese version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire–Short Form, Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale, Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire, and Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory.
Results: The latent profile analysis identified three optimal classes of childhood maltreatment: low childhood maltreatment (77.35%), predominantly neglect (13.02%), and high childhood maltreatment (9.63%) patterns fitted the data best. The regression mixed model results showed that both the predominantly neglect and high childhood maltreatment classes demonstrated comparable deficits in negative emotion regulation and alexithymia, as well as in positive emotional reactivity. However, the predominantly neglect class exhibited more pronounced impairments in negative emotional reactivity compared to high childhood maltreatment class, while the high childhood maltreatment class demonstrated more severe impairments in positive emotion regulation and alexithymia than the predominantly neglect class.
Conclusion: The present results help clarify the specific associations between distinct childhood maltreatment patterns and emotional functioning, indicating the necessity of developing targeted intervention strategies for individuals with different childhood maltreatment patterns in the future. Additionally, it offers guidance for early childhood education. Future research should employ longitudinal designs to investigate the impact of various patterns of childhood maltreatment on the developmental trajectory of emotional functioning. Additionally, it is essential to consider the sensitive periods during which childhood maltreatment influences emotional functioning.

Keywords: childhood maltreatment, emotional reactivity, alexithymia, emotion regulation