Childhood maltreatment and anxiety and depression among Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation model of intolerance of uncertainty and Behavioural inhibition system

Despite extensive research on childhood maltreatment's pathogenic effects, transdiagnostic mechanisms linking maltreatment to psychiatric disorders remain underexplored. This study examined intolerance of uncertainty (IU) as a mediator and the behavioural inhibition system (BIS) as a moderator in the associations between childhood maltreatment and both anxiety and depression. Data were collected from 3503 Chinese adolescents (51.0% male; Mage = 14.00, SD = 1.34). The results showed that IU mediated the associations between childhood maltreatment and both anxiety and depression. BIS significantly moderated direct and indirect pathways in both models. Notably, Johnson-Neyman analysis identified a transition point (at standardized BIS scores ≤ -1.80) where BIS' moderating effect on the maltreatment-depression pathway shifted from significant to non-significant. This pattern was not observed in the anxiety model. This divergence suggests distinct roles of BIS in anxiety versus depression. The findings suggest that IU and BIS may serve as potential intervention targets in efforts to mitigate the psychopathological outcomes associated with childhood maltreatment.