The effect of childhood interpersonal trauma on social anxiety: Implications for using emotion-focused therapy with young adults

According to emotion-focused therapy (EFT), childhood interpersonal trauma predicts social anxiety in adulthood through internalized shame. While internalized shame is characterized by the negative self-evaluation of the self, the mechanism linking childhood trauma and internalized shame remains unclear. This study examined whether emotional clarity, as posited by EFT, serves as a mediating factor between childhood interpersonal trauma and subsequent internalized shame. Specifically, it investigated the sequential mediating effect of emotional clarity and internalized shame on the relationship between childhood interpersonal trauma and social anxiety among Korean college students. A group of 202 undergraduate students in South Korea participated in the study by completing self-report questionnaires on key variables. The research model was evaluated using structural equation modeling. The results showed that the model fit was acceptable, explaining 46% of the variance for social anxiety. The indirect effect of childhood interpersonal trauma on social anxiety via internalized shame was significant at the p < .05 level. The indirect effect of childhood interpersonal trauma on social anxiety through emotional clarity and internalized shame was also significant at the p < .05 level. The findings support the applicability of an EFT model for working with young adults with social anxiety. Childhood interpersonal trauma can foster a shame-ridden/defective-self scheme, leading to anxiety in social situations where perceived flaws might be ridiculed. Improving one's emotional clarity is likely to alleviate internalized shame, consequentially reducing social anxiety.