초기성인의 낭만관계 친밀감 두려움 예측을 위한 구조모형의 분석: 아동기 정서적 학대, 단절/거절 초기부적응 도식, 정서표현 양가성을 중심으로

The analysis of a structural model for early adults’ fear of romantic intimacy: Focusing on childhood emotional maltreatment, disconnection/rejection early maladaptive schema and ambivalence over emotional expressiveness

The purpose of this study is to verify a structural model predicting early adults’ fear of romantic intimacy. This study is particularly interested in the effect of a distal factor, childhood emotional maltreatment, on early adulthood fear of romantic intimacy and tried to shed light on the mediation path connecting between childhood emotional maltreatment and early adulthood fear of romantic intimacy. Based on a literature review, a hypothetical structural model was proposed. The proposed model is as follows: childhood emotional maltreatment affects the development of disconnection/rejection early maladaptive schema and this increased disconnection/rejection schema further contributes to the increase of early adults’ fear of romantic intimacy either directly or through the mediation of the ambivalence over emotional expressiveness. The participants were 409 early adults (217 females and 192 males) aged between 18 and 40 who completed self-report questionnaires assessing the variables of this study. The correlation analyses demonstrated significant positive correlations among the variables. The structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses suggested that the proposed structural model was valid, demonstrating good fits between the proposed hypothetical model and obtained empirical data, thus yielding significant path coefficients for the proposed paths to be valid. Through the study, we could better understand the importance of early experiences with caretakers and early maladaptive schema in the later development of romantic intimacy issues. Particularly, this study shows this through identifying the specific path of childhood emotional maltreatment leading to the early adulthood fear of romantic intimacy.