The Interrelationship Between Child Abuse, Emotional Processing Difficulties, Alexithymia And Psychological Symptoms Among Chinese Adolescents

Abstract

This study examined the interrelationship between child abuse, emotional processing difficulties, alexithymia, and psychological symptoms with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms from past traumas adjusted among Chinese adolescents. Eight hundred adolescents completed questionnaires measuring the preceding psychological constructs. After controlling for PTSD from past trauma, structural equation modeling showed that child abuse correlated with emotional processing difficulty which correlated with alexithymia. In turn, alexithymia correlated with psychological symptom severity. To conclude, child abuse can affect psychological health among Chinese adolescents. This relationship, however, is influenced by the degree to which processing distressing emotions and getting in touch with internal feelings is avoided.

Keywords: Child abuse; PTSD; alexithymia; emotional processing.