Identification with the aggressor and the body self: The role of body boundaries and trust in the body

Background: Studies suggest that childhood maltreatment may have negative effects on survivors' body self – namely, a sense of disrupted body boundaries and reduced trust in the body. Objective: In this study we examined the role of identification with the aggressor, a survival defensive process, as a mediator in the associations between the severity of childhood maltreatment and a sense of disrupted body boundaries and trust in the body among adults. Participants: A convenience sample of 240 individuals participated in this study, mean age 40.35 years (SD = 12.69). Seventy-five percepts of participants (n = 180) defined themselves as women. Methods: Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing childhood maltreatment (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire; Bernstein et al., 2003), identification with the aggressor (Identification with the Aggressor Scale; Lahav et al., 2021), sense of body boundaries (Sense of Body Boundaries Survey; Krzewska & Dolińska-Zygmunt, 2013), and trust in the body (Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness; Mehling et al., 2018). Results: One-hundred-and-seventy-four participants (72.5 %) reported an indication of childhood maltreatment. Severity of childhood maltreatment was positively associated with levels of disrupted body boundaries (r = 0.40, p < .001) and negatively with levels of trust in their body (r = −0.33, p < .001). Path analysis indicated that the associations between severity of childhood maltreatment and disrupted body boundaries and trust in the body were mediated by identification with the aggressor, b = 0.06, p = .004, b = −0.04, p = .006. Conclusions: The findings may contribute to future clinical interventions by illuminating the importance of identification with the aggressor, to facilitate and establish a well-defined body self among adult survivors of childhood maltreatment.