Exploring the Moderated Mediation of Self-Differentiation in the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Partner Abuse

Abstract Objectives This study examines the role of self-differentiation as a protective factor, buffering individuals from the detrimental impact of childhood trauma on the health of relationships. Methods This study tests the mediating process of submissive behavior in the relationship between exposure to childhood trauma and the experience of partner abuse, while determining whether self-differentiation moderates the indirect path. Results Data were collected from 239 (Male=82, Female=157; Mage=22.34) individuals in romantic relationships. The moderated mediation model was tested using Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 14). Study findings indicated that childhood trauma predicted both submissive behavior (β = 0.25, p = .02) and experience of partner abuse (β = 0.04, p < .001). However, submissiveness did not directly predict abuse (β = 0.01, p = .34). Self-differentiation was found to significantly moderate the relationship between submissive behavior and partner abuse (β = -0.02, p = .04), with submissiveness significantly predicting experience of partner abuse only among individuals with low levels of self-differentiation. These results also indicated that self-differentiation can be used as a buffer among trauma-exposed individuals, even though the moderated mediation index was not statistically significant. Discussion The results of this study underscore self-differentiation as the psychological resource potentially minimizing the risk of maladaptive relational outcomes in trauma-exposed individuals. Enhancing self-differentiation can therefore be a practical outcome in trauma-informed interventions to interrupt the cycle of relational damage.