Is Rejection, Parental Abandonment or Neglect a Trigger for Higher Perceived Shame and Guilt in Adolescents? - PMC
Theories of development point out that childhood experiences are relevant across the lifespan, and that the parent-child relationship is essential for a child’s physical and psychological wellbeing. The aim of this study is to investigate whether ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
“Just work on your personality!
“This quasi-experimental study, conducted by Marius Marici and colleagues, investigates the impact of parental abandonment—encompassing rejection, neglect, and abuse—on self-conscious emotions (shame and guilt) in adolescents aged 14–20 (mean age 17.1). The research involved 230 participants from Romania, split into two groups: those living in family environments (e.g., with biological or adoptive parents) and those in institutional care (e.g., placement centers, foster care).
Key Objectives and Hypotheses
The study aimed to determine whether abandonment influences shame and guilt, testing six hypotheses:
1. Higher parental rejection leads to more guilt.
2. Higher parental rejection leads to more shame.
3. Higher abuse leads to more guilt.
4. Higher abuse leads to more shame.
5. Institutional care leads to higher guilt than family environments.
6. Institutional care leads to higher shame than family environments.
Methodology
Data were collected via self-reported online questionnaires, including:
• Guilt Inventory (measuring trait guilt),
• Experience of Shame Scale (ESS),
• Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ),
• Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ).
Participants were secondary and high school students, with some in institutional care due to abandonment caused by factors like parental incarceration, migration, or neglect.
Key Findings
• Shame: Significantly higher in adolescents with higher abuse (p = 0.045) and those in institutional care (p < 0.001), but not significantly tied to parental rejection (p = 0.119).
• Guilt: Significantly higher with higher parental rejection (p = 0.017) and abuse (p = 0.002), but no significant difference between institutional and family environments (p = 0.289).
• Correlations: Shame positively correlated with physical neglect, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse. Guilt positively correlated with emotional neglect, physical neglect, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and paternal rejection.
Conclusions
• Institutional care and abuse are strongly linked to increased shame, while guilt is more associated with parental rejection and abuse.
• The family or institutional environment shapes these emotions differently, with shame more prevalent in institutional settings and guilt tied to personal experiences of rejection.
• Adolescence itself didn’t amplify these emotions independently of the context.
Implications
The study highlights the need for supportive environments for abandoned children, suggesting trauma-informed care and systemic interventions to address root causes like poverty and neglect.
