title: Linkages between childhood emotional abuse and marital satisfaction: The mediating role of empathic accuracy for hostile emotions.
abstract: Research linking childhood emotional abuse (CEA) and adult marital satisfaction has focused on individuals without sufficient attention to couple processes. Less attention has also been paid to the effects of CEA on the ability to read other's emotions, and how this may be related to satisfaction in intimate relationships. In this study, 156 couples reported on histories of CEA, marital satisfaction and empathic accuracy of their partners' positive and hostile emotions during discussion of conflicts in their relationships. Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling was used to examine links between CEA and marital satisfaction, with empathic accuracy as a potential mediator. Both men's and women's CEA histories were linked not only with their own lower marital satisfaction but also with their partners' lower satisfaction. Empathic accuracy for hostile emotions mediated the link between women's CEA and their satisfaction and their partners' satisfaction in the relationship. Findings suggest that a history of CEA is associated with difficulties with empathic accuracy, and that empathic inaccuracy in part mediates the association between CEA and adult marital dissatisfaction.
authors.affiliation: Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Maneta
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 151 Merrimac Street, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Bryn Mawr College, 101 North Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, USA.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 151 Merrimac Street, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Waldinger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Child victimization; Couples; Emotional abuse; Empathic accuracy; Relationship satisfaction