Mentalization Mediates the Effect of Emotional Neglect on Psychosomatic Complaints
Keywords:
Emotional neglect, mentalization, psychosomatic complaintsAbstract
This study aimed to examine whether mentalization mediates the relationship between emotional neglect and psychosomatic complaints in young adults. A descriptive correlational design was employed involving 379 participants from Pakistan, selected based on the Morgan and Krejcie sample size table. Participants completed three standardized self-report instruments: the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire–Short Form (CTQ-SF) to assess emotional neglect, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8) to evaluate mentalization, and the Children’s Somatization Inventory (CSI-24) to measure psychosomatic complaints. Data were analyzed using SPSS-27 for descriptive and inferential statistics, including Pearson correlation, and AMOS-21 for Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the proposed mediation model. Assumptions of normality, linearity, multicollinearity, and homoscedasticity were confirmed prior to analysis. Pearson correlation analysis showed that emotional neglect was positively correlated with psychosomatic complaints (r = .47, p < .001) and negatively correlated with mentalization (r = –.42, p < .001). Mentalization was negatively associated with psychosomatic complaints (r = –.38, p < .001). The SEM revealed excellent model fit indices (χ² = 84.36, df = 41, χ²/df = 2.06, CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.053). Path analysis indicated that emotional neglect had a significant direct effect on psychosomatic complaints (β = 0.39, p < .001), as well as an indirect effect mediated by mentalization (β = 0.12, p = .002). The total effect was substantial (β = 0.51, p < .001), confirming mentalization as a partial mediator. The findings highlight the significant mediating role of mentalization in the association between emotional neglect and psychosomatic complaints. This suggests that deficits in reflective functioning may be a key psychological mechanism through which emotional neglect translates into somatic distress. Interventions targeting mentalization may help mitigate the adverse health effects of childhood emotional neglect.
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