Lueoend, Antonia, Wolfensberger, Lukas, Wingenbach, Tanja S. H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1727-2374, Schnyder, Ulrich, Weilenmann, Sonja and Pfaltz, Monique (2022) Don’t get too close to me: depressed and non-depressed survivors of child maltreatment prefer larger comfortable interpersonal distances towards strangers. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 13 (1):2066457. ISSN 2000-8066 (Online) (doi:10.1080/20008198.2022.2066457)

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Abstract

Background: Childhood maltreatment (CM) is frequently linked to interpersonal problems such as diffi-culties in social relationships, loneliness, and isolation. These difficulties might partly stem from trou-bles regulating comfortable interpersonal distance (CIPD).
Objective: We experimentally investigated whether CM manifests in larger CIPD and whether all sub-types of CM (i.e., physical, emotional, or sexual abuse and physical or emotional neglect) affect CIPD.
Methods: Using the stop-distance method (i.e., a team member approached participants until the lat-ter indicated discomfort), we assessed CIPD in 84 adults with a self-reported history of CM (24 with depressive symptoms) and 57 adult controls without a history of CM (without depressive symptoms).
Results: Adults with CM showed a larger CIPD (Mdn = 86 cm) than controls (Mdn = 68 cm), and CIPD was largest for those with CM combined with current depressive symptoms (Mdn = 145 cm) (p’s < .047). In the latter group, all subtypes of CM were associated with a larger CIPD compared to controls (p’s < .045). In the CM group without depressive symptoms, only those with emotional abuse (p = .040) showed a larger CIPD than controls.
Conclusions: These results add to findings of differential socio-emotional long-term consequences of CM, depending upon the subtype of CM. Future research should explore whether a larger CIPD has a negative impact on social functioning in individuals exposed to CM, particularly in those with depres-sive symptoms.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	personal space; abuse; neglect; social functioning; depressive symptoms
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Mental Health Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Last Modified:	08 Jun 2022 17:24
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/36646

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