The Importance of Perception and Personality on the Association Between Childhood Neglect and Adult Social Competence

ABSTRACT Social competence is a key component in engaging and sustaining everyday interactions. As such, it is prudent to identify factors that protect the development of social competence. In the present study, sociability and locus of control were examined as protective factors in two separate three-way interaction models of the effects of childhood physical and emotional neglect on adult social competence. Participants were 405 introductory psychology students from a public Southern California University. Students answered a computerized battery of assessments examining multidomain regulation. In the physical neglect model, a significant three-way interaction was found, such that for those with an internal locus of control, sociability was a protective factor: there was a strong negative relationship between physical neglect and social competence only when sociability was lower (b = −2.763, p = .024). However, for externally controlled individuals, higher sociability acted as a risk factor, strengthening the association between physical neglect and social competence (b = −2.205, p = .037). Childhood neglect has enduring effects in the lives of maltreated individuals, but their effects are not entirely uniform. Individual traits and perceptions can serve as potential intervention targets to mitigate the effects of childhood neglect on important outcomes.