Effects of Emotional Intelligence and Social Support on the Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Disordered Eating

Authors

Rachel E. Kilby, University of Northern ColoradoFollow

Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Marilyn Welsh

Faculty Sponsor Email

marilyn.welsh@unco.edu

Abstract

Current research has established a connection between childhood maltreatment and eating disorders, and some studies have looked at emotional intelligence or social support as mediators of this connection. However, little research has looked at how emotional intelligence and social support work together in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and eating disorders. This study looked at how emotional intelligence and social support act as mediators in this relationship. Undergraduate students (N=134) were administered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-90), Wong-Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). Correlations between scales were analyzed to determine associations, which were used for sequential mediation analysis. Disordered eating behaviors were positively correlated with childhood maltreatment, particularly emotional abuse and total maltreatment. Maltreatment was not correlated with the emotional intelligence scale; however, it was positively correlated to emotion regulation difficulty, which further correlated positively with disordered eating and negatively with social support. Social support is negatively correlated with disordered eating. Mediation analysis showed that childhood maltreatment predicts disordered eating, and that emotion regulation acts as a mediator between maltreatment and disordered eating. Social support does not act as a mediator between any of the other variables, nor does it predict or is predicted by the other variables, indicating that there is not a sequential mediation pathway for maltreatment, emotion regulation, social support, and disordered eating. These results highlight the importance of emotion regulation difficulties in the development of disordered eating patterns in those with a history of childhood maltreatment, indicating a greater emphasis needed on emotion regulation abilities in the treatment of eating disorders.

Recommended Citation

Kilby, Rachel E. (2024) "Effects of Emotional Intelligence and Social Support on the Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Disordered Eating," Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado: Vol. 13: No. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://digscholarship.unco.edu/urj/vol13/iss1/2

UNCO Undergraduate Verification

1