Childhood Interpersonal Maltreatment and Adult Interpersonal Difficulties: Mediating Roles of I‑self Impairment,...

We tested a multiple‑mediator model examining the associations between retrospectively reported childhood interpersonal maltreatment and current interpersonal difficulties in Korean college students through I‑self impairment (the subjective/agentic facet of the self), rejection sensitivity, and difficulties in emotion regulation. Participants completed validated Korean versions of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the I‑self subscale of the Traumatized Self‑System Scale, a culturally adapted rejection sensitivity scale for Korean college students, and the Korean Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. We evaluated the model using a two‑step structural equation modeling approach with bootstrap tests of indirect effects. The hypothesized model showed acceptable fit. Childhood interpersonal maltreatment was indirectly associated with greater interpersonal difficulties primarily through higher I‑self impairment. I‑self impairment, in turn, was associated with greater rejection sensitivity and emotion dysregulation. In single‑mediator tests, the indirect paths via rejection sensitivity and via emotion dysregulation were not significant after accounting for I‑self impairment. In the multiple‑mediator model, serial paths through I‑self impairment and downstream mechanisms were significant, whereas direct paths from maltreatment to rejection sensitivity, emotion dysregulation, and interpersonal difficulties were not, consistent with a full‑mediation pattern. Findings highlight I‑self impairment as a proximal mechanism connecting childhood interpersonal maltreatment to current interpersonal difficulties in early adulthood. We locate these associations within the Korean cultural context (e.g., relational interdependence and heightened concern for relational evaluation) and outline practice implications that prioritize restoring agentic/subjective self‑functions alongside targeted work on rejection expectancies and emotion regulation.