February's article of the month: childhood experiences of abuse and neglect and their relationship with different dimensions of psychopathology in a Mexican sample

This study, conducted with a sample of 1,612 adults from the general Mexican population, analyzed the association between five subtypes of childhood maltreatment (emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect) and different dimensions of psychopathology in adulthood, including symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and subclinical dimensions of psychosis-spectrum experiences (positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy).

The results indicated that all forms of childhood maltreatment were associated with greater psychopathological symptoms. However, the findings also showed that when maltreatment subtypes are analyzed separately, specific patterns of association emerge. In particular, emotional abuse was independently associated with all evaluated dimensions of psychopathology, highlighting it as a transdiagnostic predictor of psychopathology. Emotional neglect was also found to be associated with negative and disorganized schizotypy, as well as with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Additionally, sexual abuse was specifically associated with symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

Thus, the study places particular emphasis on the relevance of emotional maltreatment, which is often less visible than other forms of abuse, and identifies it as a major transdiagnostic risk factor for mental health. These findings are especially relevant because they expand the empirical evidence on the differential impact of various types of childhood maltreatment in a lower- and middle-income country context, thereby helping to reduce the underrepresentation of these settings in the international scientific literature.

The study was conducted by Drs. Tamara Sheinbaum and Tecelli Domínguez, first author and corresponding author respectively, within the framework of an international collaboration with Dr. Neus Vidal Barrantes, professor in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology and principal investigator of the research group “Person–Environment Interaction in Risk and Resilience for Mental Health”. This publication aligns with the group’s research lines, which focus on the study of risk and protective factors for psychopathology from a dimensional and integrative perspective, as well as on analyzing how early environmental experiences interact with individual characteristics in shaping vulnerability and resilience in mental health.

Overall, the article reinforces the need to intensify scientific and institutional attention to childhood maltreatment, as well as to promote prevention and intervention strategies that are sensitive to the sociocultural context.