J Korean Soc Biol Ther Psychiatry.  2023 Oct;29(3):93-99. 10.22802/jksbtp.2023.29.3.93.

A Pilot Study for Evaluating the Relationship Among Maltreatment, Cognitive Function, and Emotion Dysregulation

• Kim K
• Kim MS
• Jin B
• Nam J
• Lee SW

• KMID: 2547844
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22802/jksbtp.2023.29.3.93

Abstract

Objectives
This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship among childhood maltreatment, cognitive function and emotion dysregulation in healthy adults who have not been diagnosed with existing mental diseases and do not report clinically significant levels of symptoms.
Methods
The participants were 66 healthy young adults aged 20 to 40 recruited from October 2021 to March 2022. Cognitive function, maltreatment experience, emotion dysregulation and depressive symptoms were evaluated. Their association was analyzed using Kendell’s tau coefficient. In addition, multiple linear regression was conducted to explain emotion dysregulation using cognitive measures.
Results
As a results of Kendall’s tau coefficient calculation, emotional abuse experience showed a significant negative correlation with cognitive functions such as perceptual reasoning, working memory and processing speed. The degree of difficulty in emotion regulation reported a significant positive correlation with processing speed among cognitive functions. In the multiple linear regression analysis, processing speed among the cognitive function measures might be revealed to be a factor that can affect emotion regulation even after excluding the influence of other measures.
Conclusions
The results of this preliminary study suggest that certain maltreatment experiences, such as emotional abuse, can affect cognitive decline, even if there is no clear mental illness, and the cognitive function can be associated with difficulties in emotional control.

Keyword

Child abuse; Cognition; Emotional regulation