A Structural Model for Predicting Psychological Vulnerability Based on Childhood Trauma and Perceived Social Support: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation in Women

Samaneh Afsharkohan; Kobra Haji Alizadeh; Azita Amirfakhraei

Authors

Samaneh Afsharkohan Department of Psychology, BA.C., Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran. Author https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0421-2096
Kobra Haji Alizadeh Department of Psychology, BA.C., Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6547-1853
Azita Amirfakhraei Department of Psychology, BA.C., Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran. Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8064-4660

Keywords:

Childhood trauma, Cognitive emotion regulation, Perceived social support, Psychological vulnerability, Women

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to develop and test a structural model of psychological vulnerability based on childhood trauma and perceived social support, with the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation in women.

Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational study used structural equation modeling. The participants were 350 married women aged 18–50 years attending licensed counseling and psychology centers in Mashhad, Iran, in 2025. Participants were recruited through two-stage sampling. Data were collected using the 25-item Symptom Checklist, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire–Short Form, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire–Short Form. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and bootstrap analysis with 5,000 resamples.

Findings: Childhood trauma was positively associated with psychological vulnerability (β = .459, p < .001) and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation (β = .624, p < .001), and negatively associated with adaptive regulation (β = −.441, p < .001). Perceived social support was negatively associated with psychological vulnerability (β = −.642, p < .001) and maladaptive regulation (β = −.261, p < .001), and positively associated with adaptive regulation (β = .484, p < .001). Adaptive regulation was negatively associated with psychological vulnerability (β = −.417, p < .001), whereas maladaptive regulation showed a positive association (β = .620, p < .001). Significant indirect effects were found for childhood trauma through adaptive regulation (β = .18, 95% CI [.07, .28]) and maladaptive regulation (β = .24, 95% CI [.11, .36]), and for perceived social support through adaptive (β = −.20, 95% CI [−.32, −.09]) and maladaptive regulation (β = −.12, 95% CI [−.23, −.02]).

Conclusion: Cognitive emotion regulation partially mediated the associations of childhood trauma and perceived social support with psychological vulnerability. Strengthening adaptive emotion regulation and social support may help reduce psychological vulnerability in women.

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