Childhood Emotional Abuse, Neuroticism, Perfectionism, and Workaholism in an Italian Sample of Young Workers

Abstract

The literature has linked childhood emotional abuse (CEA) to severe negative outcomes such as the development of several maladaptive personality traits and coping mechanisms. Nonetheless, its concurrent connection with neuroticism, perfectionism, and workaholism has not been explored. For the above reasons, the present study sought to investigate whether neuroticism and perfectionism mediate the relationship between CEA and workaholism, as well as evaluate the gender invariance of the model. The sample of the present research comprised 1176 young workers (50% women), aged 18–25, who completed validated self-report questionnaires. The findings highlighted significant positive direct and indirect paths, suggesting a complex interplay between CEA, neuroticism, perfectionism, and workaholism. Furthermore, the model exhibited no significant differences between genders, suggesting that the identified relationships are consistent across both women and men. The findings highlight the importance of identifying CEA and considering the adoption of trauma-informed approaches to manage its adverse effects, thereby potentially averting the onset of workaholism. Moreover, the results underline the necessity for customized preventive measures, aiming to mitigate traits associated with neuroticism and perfectionism as potential paths for successful therapeutic interventions.

Keywords

• childhood emotional abuse
• neuroticism
• perfectionism
• workaholism
• gender differences
• emerging adults