Childhood maltreatment affects posttraumatic stress symptoms, posttraumatic growth, and prosocial behavior in emerging adulthood: A developmental cascade model.

Background: Childhood maltreatment has a significant impact on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), posttraumatic growth (PTG), and prosocial behavior in emerging adults. However, the mechanisms underlying the enduring effect and the impact of maltreatment types remain unclear.

Objective: This study aims to explore the effects of childhood abuse and neglect on PTSS, PTG, and prosocial behavior and examine the developmental cascade among them.

Methods: The sample consisted of 794 college students (51.6 % male, Mage = 19.05 ± 1.31 years) from two universities in China. Methods: Four waves of longitudinal data were utilized to investigate the developmental cascade linking childhood abuse and neglect to PTSS, PTG, and prosocial behavior in emerging adulthood.

Results: Childhood abuse was positively associated with PTSS and prosocial behavior, while childhood neglect was negatively associated with PTSS, PTG, and prosocial behavior. Over time, PTSS and prosocial behavior exhibited a bidirectional negative lagged relationship, while prosocial behavior had a unidirectional positive lagged effect on PTG.

Conclusions: Childhood abuse and neglect generally exert negative effects on PTSS, PTG and prosocial behavior. These impacts can engender a vicious cycle through the mutual predictive effect among PTSS, PTG, and prosocial behavior.