The role of childhood traumas, interpersonal problems, and contrast avoidance model in development of the generalized...

The present study was conducted to investigate the mediating role of interpersonal problems, contrast avoidance of worry, and emotional contrast avoidance in the relationship between childhood trauma and symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

In this cross-sectional study, 457 individuals (with mean age of 31.5 ± 5.49 years old) with symptoms of GAD who had been referred to psychotherapy centers in Khorramabad City, Lorestan Province, Iran were included. The tools used for data collection were the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Brief Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex (IIP-C), the Contrast Avoidance Questionnaire-Worry (CAQ-W), the Contrast Avoidance Questionnaire-General Emotion (CAQ-GE), and the GAD Questionnaire-7 (GAD-7).

The results showed that contrast avoidance of worry and interpersonal problems had a direct and significant effect on symptoms of GAD (p < .001), but childhood trauma and emotional contrast avoidance had no direct and significant effect on symptoms of GAD (p < .05), and also contrast avoidance of worry and interpersonal problems significantly mediated the relationship between childhood traumas and symptoms of GAD (CI [.01,.30]).

Generally, our results showed that the people who have had trauma experiences in childhood may face difficulties in interpersonal relationships later in life. While faced with unpleasant events triggering their negative emotions, these individuals tend to have worry in order to prolong and maintain a negative emotional state-thereby avoiding an unexpected negative emotional shift or contrast experience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).