The Structural Pattern of Loneliness Based on Childhood Trauma among Students at the University of Tabriz: The Mediating Role of Social Thermoregulation and Risk Avoidance

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Rasoul Heshmati ¹

Mojtaba Ahmadi Farsani ²

Nima Ghorbanian ³

¹ Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Education and Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology,, Ayatollah Boroujerdi University, Borujerd, Iran

³ M.A, in Psychology, College of Education and Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

10.22067/tpccp.2026.95703.1853

Abstract

Extended Abstract
Introduction
Humans have an intrinsic need for social connection, and when this need is not met, they experience loneliness (DiTommaso et al., 2015). Loneliness is an aversive subjective experience arising from a deficiency or absence of intimacy (DiTommaso et al., 2015), which in adulthood is shaped by various factors, including childhood trauma (Arslan & Yıldırım, 2022). Childhood trauma refers to traumatic experiences occurring before the age of 18 and encompasses physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well as physical and emotional neglect (Austin, 2021). Such experiences hinder the formation of secure attachment (van Beeck et al., 2024). Attachment styles exert a decisive influence on the degree of loneliness throughout life, and loneliness can be viewed as a corollary of insecure attachment (Weiss, 1975). Attachment is evolutionarily grounded, and its components are integral to survival and reproduction (Vergara et al., 2019). Nevertheless, evidence concerning the role of biological factors in this regard remains limited. Infants' needs for thermoregulation and risk avoidance play a central role in attachment formation (Vergara et al., 2019). "Social thermoregulation" refers to a set of habits, strategies, and compensatory behaviours that enable individuals to meet their physical and psychological need for warmth through social interaction (Vergara et al., 2019). "Risk avoidance" denotes a tendency to avoid threatening situations, driven by the need for personal safety (Vergara et al., 2019). Secure attachment is expected to develop when caregivers adequately meet infants' needs for thermoregulation and risk avoidance (IJzerman et al., 2021). Given that childhood trauma is associated with attachment, and attachment is associated with loneliness, a construct akin to attachment—namely, social thermoregulation and risk avoidance—may serve as a mediating variable in this relationship. Accordingly, the present study aimed to examine the mediating role of social thermoregulation and risk avoidance in the relationship between childhood trauma and loneliness.
Method
This study was fundamental, descriptive–correlational in nature, and utilised structural equation modelling. The statistical population comprised all students at Tabriz University during the 2022–2023 academic year. From this population, 262 participants were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling and completed the Social Thermoregulation and Risk Avoidance Questionnaire (STRAQ; Vergara et al., 2019), the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, 1996), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein et al., 2003). Data were analysed using structural equation modelling with AMOS-26 software..
Findings
The results demonstrated that the modified model exhibited a satisfactory fit to the data (χ²/df = 2.15, GFI = 0.94, AGFI = 0.91, CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.07). The findings further revealed that childhood trauma exerted a positive and significant direct effect on loneliness (β = 0.56, p < 0.001) and a negative and significant direct effect on social thermoregulation and risk avoidance (β = -0.34, p < 0.01). Moreover, the direct effect of social thermoregulation and risk avoidance on loneliness was positive and significant (β = 0.37, p < 0.01). Finally, the results of the bootstrap test indicated that the indirect effect of childhood trauma on loneliness via social thermoregulation and risk avoidance was negative and significant (β = -0.12, p < 0.01).
Discussion
The present study demonstrated that childhood trauma exerts a positive influence on feelings of loneliness, a finding that aligns with the results of prior research (de Heer et al., 2024; Arslan & Yıldırım, 2022; Shevlin et al., 2015; Gibson & Hartshorne, 1996). In explaining this finding, it can be argued that the experience of childhood trauma may undermine the quality of the parent–child relationship and pave the way for insecure attachment (Yilmaz et al., 2022). Children who have experienced neglect or abusive parental behaviors develop a negative attitude toward others, perceiving them as unavailable, untrustworthy, or threatening (Myers & Wells, 2015), a perception that fuels feelings of loneliness in adulthood. The findings also indicated that childhood trauma has a direct and negative effect on social thermoregulation and risk avoidance, a result consistent with the only comparable study conducted thus far (Madadpour, 2024). This finding may be explained by positing that traumatic childhood experiences can disrupt the functioning of the social thermoregulation and risk avoidance system. When the social environment is perceived as trustworthy, individuals regulate their social temperature through proximity, interaction, and interpersonal support; however, when the environment is appraised as threatening, the system activates a risk-avoidance tendency. Neglect or maltreatment shifts this system toward the latter state (Vergara et al., 2019). It was also found that social thermoregulation and risk avoidance have a direct and negative effect on feelings of loneliness, which is concordant with the results of previous studies (Vergara et al., 2019; Madadpour, 2024). Social thermoregulation reflects an individual’s capacity to experience emotional warmth within relationships (Vergara et al., 2019). When this capacity is attenuated, the individual feels disconnected even in the presence of others. Simultaneously, the risk-avoidance component of this construct leads the individual to perceive social interactions as threatening. Ultimately, the findings revealed that social thermoregulation and risk avoidance mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and loneliness, thereby enabling the present study to introduce novel dimensions to the extant literature. In explaining this finding, it can be posited that traumatic childhood experiences, by disrupting the sense of social security, reorganize an individual’s biological and emotional patterns in such a way that interactions with others are no longer perceived as a source of warmth and comfort but rather as a source of threat, thereby intensifying feelings of loneliness (Vergara et al., 2019). In conclusion, understanding the role of social thermoregulation and risk avoidance may open up new vistas for promoting mental health and enhancing physical well-being, and this variable should be taken into account in the design of interventions.
 

Keywords

Childhood Trauma

Loneliness

Social Thermoregulation

Risk Avoidance

Attachment

Subjects

• Clinical psychology

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