Childhood psychological maltreatment and life satisfaction among Chinese young adults: The mediating role of internalizing problems and the buffering role of social support

Extensive studies have shown that childhood psychological maltreatment causes harmful effects. However, positive psychologists indicate that an absence of negative outcomes does not guarantee that there will be coinciding positive outcomes (e.g., life satisfaction). The mechanisms underlying the association of childhood psychological maltreatment and life satisfaction are relatively underexplored. To address the gap, this study examined the mediating role of internalizing problems between childhood psychological maltreatment and life satisfaction and the moderating role of social support (i.e., psychological and instrumental support from significant social relationships) between internalizing problems and life satisfaction among emerging adults. A total of 346 Chinese young adults were recruited (M age = 22.49, SD age = 0.96; 236 females and 110 males) to complete self-report measures of demographics, childhood psychological maltreatment, internalizing problems, social support, and life satisfaction. The results showed that (a) the prevalence rate of childhood psychological maltreatment was 46.5% in the present sample, (b) internalizing problems fully mediated the association between childhood psychological maltreatment and life satisfaction, and (c) social support moderated the relationship between internalizing problems and life satisfaction. These findings could provide some fresh avenues for psychological interventions of young adults suffering from childhood psychological maltreatment. Limitations and implications are discussed.