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Abstract
Childhood emotional neglect has been consistently understudied and requires empirical research to better understand how this form of maltreatment may impact, and impede, later interpersonal functioning in adulthood. While emotional maltreatment, including emotional abuse, has been linked to a variety of difficulties in adulthood, childhood emotional neglect has not been given the same attention. Thus, the purpose of the current studies was to elucidate associations between childhood emotional neglect and later relationship functioning. Associations were also contextualized to better understand if and how a history of emotional neglect predicted later relationship behaviors. Study one explored the association between childhood emotional neglect and young adult dating violence in a sample of 58 college students in a dating relationship. Partners adult attachment was used as a moderator to contextualize the influence of childhood emotional neglect on later dating aggression and victimization. Study two aimed to investigate the potential association between a maternal history of childhood emotional neglect on later parent-child dysfunction, while also considering how child negativity affectivity, both reported by mothers and via observational ratings, interacted with mothers emotional neglect history to influence perceived and observed parent-child dysfunction in a sample of 96 mother-child dyads. Clinical implications of the current findings are discussed.