Abstract
Childhood maltreatment and its influence on mental health are key concerns around the world. Previous studies have found that childhood maltreatment is a positive predictor of mental symptoms, but few studies have been done to explore the specific mediating mechanisms between these two variables. Previous studies have found that there is a negative correlation between childhood maltreatment and emotional intelligence and between childhood maltreatment and social support, both of which are strong indicators of mental symptoms. Therefore, in this study, we took emotional intelligence and social support as mediating variables, exploring their mediating effects between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms via the structural equation modeling method. We recruited 811 Chinese college students to complete the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Symptom Checklist 90 Scale (SCL-90), the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), and the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS). The results showed a significant and positive correlation between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms (β = 0.26, P < 0.001); meanwhile, social support played a significant mediating role in the influence of childhood maltreatment on emotional intelligence [95% confidence intervals, (−0.594 to −0.327)]; and emotional intelligence likewise played a significant mediating role in the effect of social support on mental symptoms [95% confidence intervals, (−0.224 to −0.105)]. These results indicated that childhood maltreatment not only directly increases the likelihood of developing mental symptoms, but also affects emotional intelligence through influencing social support and then indirectly increasing the likelihood of developing mental symptoms. This study provided a theoretical basis for ameliorating adverse effects of childhood maltreatment on mental symptoms by enhancing emotional intelligence and social support.
Highlights
Previous researchers have explored the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms, consistently finding that childhood maltreatment has a positive correlation with mental symptoms [1, 2]
The results showed that while emotional intelligence and social support both do not directly mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms, childhood maltreatment affects emotional intelligence by influencing social support, indirectly increasing the likelihood of developing mental symptoms
According to the results of correlation analysis, there was a significant and positive correlation between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms, which was confirmed by the regression coefficients in the structure model
Summary
Previous researchers have explored the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms, consistently finding that childhood maltreatment has a positive correlation with mental symptoms [1, 2]. Previous studies have shown that childhood maltreatment negatively affects emotional intelligence [3], and emotional intelligence can inhibit the emergence of mental symptoms [4]. To expand on existing research, this study will use the structural equation modeling method to explore the mediating roles of emotional intelligence and social support in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms. Childhood maltreatment refers to violent or other abusive actions by parents or other caregivers, causing physical and mental harm [7]. It includes five aspects: emotional neglect, emotional abuse, physical neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse [8]. Many studies have found a significant and positive correlation between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms [14,15,16]; this study further explores the specific mediating mechanisms between these two variables by using operable variables as mediating variables
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