Variable Details
Emotional neglect
Childhood adversity subscale: Emotional neglect - Sum of 6 items
This variable is only available in MAP, MARS, and LATC.
Emotional neglect is a subscale of total adverse experience during childhood. The variable is assessed using 2 questions about parental violence covering the period of time from birth to 18 years of age. Participants are asked to respond to each question using a 5-point rating scale. All values are flipped and converted to a 3 point scale so that each response ranges from 0 to 3, where higher values indicate more emotional neglect. The subscale score ranges from 0 to 18 and is the sum of the individual items, with higher scores indicating more emotional neglect.
Participants were asked the following questions:
When you were growing up...
- was there someone in your family who helped you feel important or special?
- did you feel loved?
- did people in your family feel close to each other?
- was your family a source of strength and support to you?
- did you know there was someone there to take care of you and protect you?
- how often was there someone to take you to the doctor if you needed it?
Response choices for questions 1-5:
| Response | Value | Flipped value |
|---|---|---|
| Not at all | 1 | 3 |
| Somewhat | 2 | 2 |
| Moderately so | 3 | 1 |
| Very much so | 4 | 0 |
Response choices for question 6:
| Response | Value | Flipped value |
|---|---|---|
| Never | 1 | 3 |
| Rarely | 2 | 3 |
| Sometimes | 3 | 2 |
| Often | 4 | 1 |
| Always | 5 | 0 |