Elements of Control Differentiate Associations Between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Anxiety Symptoms

Among adolescents experiencing childhood maltreatment, there exists wide variability regarding the development and maintenance of anxious symptoms. Existing research has identified the protective role of effortful control against childhood anxiety (Raines et al. in Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 2021). The current study aimed to uncover how distinct elements of effortful control differentially diminish or intensify anxiety symptoms arising from a perceived lack of control following childhood emotional abuse (CEA). 467 college student participants provided reports of their experience with childhood emotional abuse, locus of control, anxiety symptoms, and effortful control via in-person surveys. We explored three categories of effortful control: inhibitory control (the capacity to suppress inappropriate behavior), attentional control (the capacity to focus or shift attention), and activational control (the capacity to perform an action despite a strong tendency to avoid). Consistent with our hypotheses, results revealed that CEA predicted increased anxiety symptoms. External LOC significantly mediated the relationship between CEA and anxiety. When effortful control was broken down into its component elements, higher inhibitory control acted as a protective factor for locus of control driven anxiety, whereas higher levels of activational control acted as a risk factor. Attentional control was not a significant moderator. These findings stress the importance of identifying risk and protective factors that contribute to resilience, and may aid in the development of interventions targeted to specific aspects of effortful control.