Childhood Maltreatment and Gratitude: A Multilevel, Meta-Analytic Review.

During the past decade, research on the association between childhood maltreatment (CM) and gratitude has been accumulating, but there is a lack of systematic, quantitative evaluation of existing literature. The present systematic review aims to fill this gap by conducting a three-level meta-analysis. After a comprehensive search in five English and three Chinese databases, we retrieved 33 effect sizes from 16 studies with a total sample of 13,818 participants. The results showed that CM (aggregated across forms) was negatively and moderately linked to gratitude (r = -.311, 95% CI [-0.382, -0.235], p < .001). Childhood neglect (i.e., physical and emotional neglect) exhibited more substantial effects on gratitude than emotional abuse, while the effects of childhood physical and sexual abuse were insignificant. In addition, the mean effect sizes were larger in studies with younger samples. However, the effect did not vary as functions of CM measurement, methodological rigor, whether the sample included college students only, publication type, or region of the sample. Last, we highlighted the limitations of existing research, proposed agendas for future studies, and discussed practical implications.

Childhood maltreatment and depressed mood in female college students: A daily diary analysis.

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment has well-documented relations with depressed mood. However, few studies have used a daily diary methodology to investigate the association between all five forms of childhood maltreatment (emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, emotional and physical neglect) and depressed mood, and the mechanisms underlying the association remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: The current study sought to examine the associations of multiple forms of childhood maltreatment with depressed mood via a 14-day daily diary methodology, and investigate the mediating effects of self-compassion and perceived social support. METHODS: A sample of 220 Chinese female college students (Mage = 19.13 years) participated in this study and completed questionnaires regarding childhood maltreatment, self-compassion, perceived social support and depressed mood. RESULTS: The multilevel regression analysis indicated that only emotional abuse was slightly associated with depressed mood, while emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect, or sexual abuse were not associated with depressed mood. The multilevel mediation analysis further revealed that self-compassion and perceived social support independently mediated the association of childhood emotional abuse with depressed mood. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these results emphasize the specific association between childhood emotional abuse and daily depressed mood, and further support self-compassion and perceived social support as explanatory mechanisms linking childhood emotional abuse with later depressed mood.

Childhood emotional but not physical or sexual maltreatment predicts prosocial behavior in late adolescence: A daily diary study.

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment (CM), including physical, emotional, and sexual maltreatment, is detrimental to adolescents' psychological and behavioral outcomes. However, most studies on the relationship between CM and prosocial behavior focused on the overall experience of CM. Since different forms of CM exert various influences on adolescents, it is essential to find out which form of CM has the strongest link with prosocial behavior and the underlying mechanism behind it to fully understand this relationship and design a specific intervention for promoting prosocial behavior. OBJECTIVE: Guided by internal working model theory and hopelessness theory, this study aimed to investigate the connections of multiple forms of CM with prosocial behavior, and explore the mediating mechanism of gratitude from the perspective of the broaden-and-build theory through a 14-day daily diary study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 240 Chinese late adolescents (217 females; Mage = 19.02, SDage = 1.83) from a college volunteered for this study and completed questionnaires regarding CM, gratitude, and prosocial behavior. METHODS: A multilevel regression analysis was conducted to investigate which form of CM was correlated to prosocial behavior, and a multilevel mediation analysis was applied to examine the underlying mechanism (i.e., gratitude) behind this relationship. RESULTS: The results of the multilevel regression analysis showed that it was childhood emotional maltreatment, but not physical or sexual maltreatment that negatively predicted prosocial behavior. The results of the multilevel mediation analysis indicated that gratitude mediated the relationship between childhood emotional maltreatment and prosocial behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the present study highlight the predictive effect of childhood emotional maltreatment on late adolescents' prosocial behavior and the mediating role of gratitude in this link.

The relation between childhood maltreatment and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in emerging adults: A daily diary study.

BACKGROUND: Prior research has reported that childhood maltreatment is associated with poor well-being, but few studies have examined the association between childhood maltreatment and well-being including hedonic and eudaimonic well-being using a daily diary method. OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the association between childhood maltreatment and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, and explored the mediating effects of social support and self-esteem. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Data were collected applying a 14-day daily diary method in two samples. A total of 120 Chinese emerging adults (100 female; Mage = 20.48 years, age range = 18-24 years) and 229 Chinese emerging adults (187 female; Mage = 20.43 years, age range = 18-27 years) comprised the discovery sample and the replication sample, respectively. METHODS: Multilevel regression analysis and multilevel mediation analysis were conducted, while controlling for sex, age, and socioeconomic status. RESULTS: In the discovery sample, the multilevel regression analysis showed that childhood maltreatment had an equal effect on predicting the two types of well-being. Additionally, the multilevel mediation analysis demonstrated that social support and self-esteem acted as independent and equally important mediators of the associations between childhood maltreatment and the two types of well-being. Moreover, the total indirect effect on the childhood maltreatment-hedonic well-being link had no significant difference from that on the childhood maltreatment-eudaimonic well-being link. The replication sample reconfirmed the results of the discovery sample, which provides greater credibility to our findings. CONCLUSIONS: Social support and self-esteem might help to improve the well-being of emerging adults who have suffered childhood maltreatment, and might therefore be important intervention targets.