Psychological Maltreatment as a Predictor of Anxiety Sensitivity Among Females

Abstract

Psychological maltreatment can involve emotional abuse or emotional neglect. It is also one of the most frequent and least understood forms of childhood adversity. Emotional abuse is an active scenario and emotional neglect is passive, and while both do not leave physical injuries, emotional and psychological maltreatment does not mean the injuries do not exist. There are real psychological injuries, and while they may not be apparent or visible, the emotional injuries and psychological vulnerabilities certainly exist. Anxiety sensitivity, which is the fear of anxiety and related sensations, is an important cognitive risk factor for the development and persistence of anxiety disorders. This study hopes to explore the role of psychological abuse and emotional neglect/ trauma in the development of anxiety sensitivity in the female gender. The study is anchored on the cognitive vulnerability framework and the developmental psychopathology framework to explore the role of psychological ill treatment in the development of anxiety sensitivity among young adult females. A cross sectional approach will be used in this study, and it will be descriptive and quantitative in nature. This means that it will be centred around the use of standardized, self-containing, self-defining measures of psychological maltreatment and anxiety sensitivity with the aim of providing an accurate, precise, and statistically relevant representation in the data. Psychometric testing and analysis will be conducted using the Pearson correlation and the ANOVA to measure the strength of the predictor and the importance of the predictor. Psychological abuse and emotional neglect will also be tested against anxiety sensitivity to measure the elasticity and the elasticity of the correlation. It is assumed that as psychological abuse increases, so will anxiety sensitivity in females. The study also considers socialisation and gender-based patterns which increase vulnerability to internalising symptoms. The study aims to refine and contribute to literature that attempts to explain cognitive mechanisms of early emotional injuries that lead to anxiety vulnerability. The study will help understand the relationship that will help develop other protective mechanisms and psychological abuse neglect interventions to reduce the emotional distress and long-term psychological effects that result from emotional abuse and neglect.