Early exposure to maltreatment and traumatic experiences may contribute to the development of negative interpersonal relationships and aggressive behaviors in adulthood. Childhood trauma is considered one of the fundamental psychosocial variables that predict relational aggression. Attachment theory and schema therapy perspectives suggest that these early experiences may lead individuals to form dependent relationships with others, resulting in the emergence of relational aggression behaviors. This study aimed to test the hypothesized relationships between childhood trauma, relational aggression, and interpersonal dependency. Mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS Macro (Model 4) with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. The study included 696 students (505 women and 191 men) aged 18 to 49 years (M = 21.86) enrolled at a university. The analyses revealed significant positive relationships between childhood trauma, interpersonal dependency, and relational aggression. Additionally, interpersonal dependency was found to play a significant mediating role in the relationship between childhood trauma and relational aggression. Childhood trauma accounted for approximately 2% of the variance in relational aggression, and the full mediation model explained 3% of the variance, indicating small effect sizes. Findings from the current study indicate that childhood trauma is statistically associated with relational aggression and that this association may be partially mediated by interpersonal dependency. Interpersonal dependency may therefore represent a relevant relational factor to consider when understanding relational aggression among individuals with experiences of childhood trauma.
