Abstract
Childhood is the period during which physical and mental development is extremely rapid from the first years of life. Furthermore, many basic factors affecting the future lives of individuals start to be shaped. The child's future life, psychological well-being, and quality of life are negatively affected by the exposure to unwanted situations by the family or the environment during this period. As a matter of fact, behavior patterns exhibited by individuals during adulthood are thought to be correlated with childhood traumas. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between the altruistic fear of crime, psychological well-being, and childhood traumas among mothers with children aged three to six years. A cross-sectional correlation research design was used for this study. The sample of the study consisted of 214 volunteer mothers, whose children were attending a private preschool education institution in the city center of Gumushane province of Turkey during the 2019/2020 academic year. The research data were collected using "Personal Information Form", "Childhood Trauma Questionnaire", "Altruistic Fear of Crime Scale" and "Psychological Well-being Scale". Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and correlation analysis. The results of the research showed that the age of the mothers, birth order, presence of any family member receiving psychological support, and marital satisfaction caused significant differences. Furthermore, scores obtained from "Personal Information Form", "Childhood Trauma Questionnaire", "Altruistic Fear of Crime" and "Psychological Well-being Scale" were found to be significantly correlated.
Highlights
Starting from the first days of life, individuals tend to establish social relationships with the people around them
Participants who were partially satisfied with their marriage were found to have higher levels of emotional abuse, physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse compared to those who were very satisfied with their marriage. Those who are very satisfied with their marriage have higher psychological well-being and lower altruistic fear of crime than those who are partially satisfied
First-borns have been found to obtain higher scores on emotional abuse and physical abuse subscales compared to secondborns and the physical neglect levels have been found to be higher among third- and fourthborns compared to first- and second-borns
Summary
Starting from the first days of life, individuals tend to establish social relationships with the people around them. They are dependent on the person, who is responsible for their care, to meet their needs, during infancy and early childhood (Bruhn, 2010; Isgor, 2017). Adverse events or traumas experienced by individuals during childhood negatively affect both the childhood and later life of the individual (Medrano et al, 2002). Traumas experienced in early years and critical periods of development can lead to greater and permanent effects on individuals. Many studies have reported that neglect and abusive behaviors have the same negative effects on individuals (Ozen, 2010; Yildiz, 2020). Negative situations and traumas experienced by individuals can cause altruistic fear of crime in individuals and damage their psychological well-being (Oymak, 2017; Talu & Avci, 2019)
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