Impact of Childhood Emotional Abuse on Self-Silencing and Internalized Guilt Among Women of Pakistan; Mediating Role of Self-Silencing in the Relationship Between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Internalized Guilt in WomenAdaptation and Resilience

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the impact of childhood emotional abuse on self-silencing and internalized guilt among women. Three self-reported scales, including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS), and the Guilt Subscale of the Personal Feelings Questionnaire, were used to collect data from 410 women (aged above 18) through non-probability convenience sampling. Outcomes from regression analyses indicated that childhood emotional abuse significantly predicted internalized guilt (β = .363, p < .001) and self-silencing (β = .311, p < .001). Furthermore, in mediation analysis childhood emotional abuse strongly predicted internalized guilt (B = 0.35, p < .001), and this relationship was significantly mediated by self-silencing (B = 0.35, p < .001), which explains how early emotional abuse is responsible for heightened guilt in adulthood (B = 0.24, p < .001). The research highlights the relation between childhood emotional abuse and its impact on psychological well-being. This study addresses the adverse effects of childhood emotional abuse (CEA) caused by cultural factors, which lead to long-lasting problems in both intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships.