The inability to update trust: cognitive mechanisms between childhood maltreatment and PTSD
Research by Porat-Butman et al. (2025) analyzes how experiences of abuse and neglect during childhood alter the fundamental processes by which the brain learns and modifies social information in adulthood.
1. The experimental paradigm: "friend-stranger social updating"
The study involved 114 participants who completed a computerized task divided into two critical phases:
Acquisition Phase (Learning): Participants were shown male faces labeled as "Friends" or "Strangers." Half were associated with gaining points (positive outcome), the other half with losing points (negative outcome).
Updating Phase (Reversal): Without warning, associations were reversed. To succeed, participants had to update their initial beliefs based on the new evidence.
Listen to the Podcast on the AIPC Editore Spotify Channel, MENTE|CRIMINE|TRAUMA: "The Inability to Update Trust". Click here
2. Detailed research results
The study highlighted a clear distinction between the ability to form new opinions and the ability to modify them:
Intact Social Learning: No differences related to maltreatment were found in the initial phase. All participants learned who was "good" or "bad" with equal effectiveness.
Selective Updating Deficit: Adults with a history of maltreatment showed specific difficulty in updating beliefs regarding strangers. This rigidity appeared whether a "bad" stranger became "good" or vice versa.
Over-precision of the Model: From a "predictive processing" perspective, the traumatized brain assigns excessive "precision" to initial expectations toward the unknown. This makes mental models resistant to change, even when faced with contrary evidence.
3. Correlation between maltreatment, updating, and PTSD
The Buffer Role: Individuals who, despite childhood trauma, maintain good flexibility in revising opinions about strangers show consistently lower levels of PTSD symptoms.
Increased Vulnerability: Conversely, for those with updating deficits, a linear correlation exists: the more severe the childhood maltreatment, the more severe the PTSD symptoms developed after subsequent traumas in adulthood.
Social Specificity: The effect is specifically linked to the difficulty of recalibrating trust in uncertain or unfamiliar interpersonal contexts.
4. Integration with relational psychotraumatology
These scientific data provide empirical support for the Lattanzi and Calzone models, highlighting how post-traumatic emotional dysregulation translates into cognitive rigidity. This prevents the individual from "feeling" and integrating safety in current relationships.
The ability to update social maps emerges as a crucial resilience factor. Clinical interventions aimed at restoring this flexibility—such as those practiced by CIPR through biofeedback and the SVITR evaluation (based on Panksepp's primary emotional systems)—are essential to break the cycle of traumatic repetition.
Conclusion: beyond the prison of the past
The research by Porat-Butman et al. (2025) delivers a truth as raw as it is transformative: childhood trauma does not just wound memory; it hijacks the brain's ability to update the present.
However, the turning point between the "repetition compulsion" and healing lies in cognitive flexibility. Healing from trauma is not just about remembering the past, but rehabilitating the mind to "feel" safety in the here and now. Flexibility is the key to resilience that breaks the chains of constant hyper-vigilance.
Do not remain a prisoner of a model that no longer belongs to you
If you recognize yourself in these dynamics, you are not alone. Trauma may have altered your social maps, but they can be recalibrated.
The Italian Center for Relational Psychotraumatology (CIPR) offers a specialized approach to address relational trauma. Through advanced methodologies—including the assessment of Panksepp’s primary emotional systems (RESEARCH, FEAR, RAGE, LUST, CARE, PANIC/GRIEF, PLAY) via the SVITR scale and biofeedback—our professionals in Pescara and Rome are ready to support you.
Contact us today to begin your journey toward well-being:
Phone/WhatsApp: +39 3924401930
Email: aipcitalia@gmail.com
Website: www.associazioneitalianadipsicologiaecriminologia.it
Do not delay the possibility of a path toward real change and growth. We are here for you.
