Chen Peiyi, Zhang Qiaofen, Sun Xiyuan, Ye Xiaoyang, Wang You, Yang Xueling
Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Department of Artificial Intelligence, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, Guangxi, China.
Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 17;13:1051258. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1051258. eCollection 2022.
Childhood abuse and neglect are typically considered as two different forms of maltreatment. Previous international studies have found differential effects of abuse and neglect on prosocial behavior, but this and the mediating pathway underlying these associations have not been examined in a Chinese sample. Our study aims to examine the effects of childhood abuse and neglect on prosocial behavior in Chinese participants and test the unique mediating roles of different empathic components in these associations.
A total of 1,569 young adults (average age = 18.17 years) were recruited from a college that enrolls students from all provinces of China. Participants completed a series of questionnaires, including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and Prosocial Tendencies Measure. Path analysis was conducted to determine the mediational relationships.
Emotional neglect had significant direct effect on prosocial behavior ( = -0.108, < 0.001), and could also impact prosocial behavior through the mediating roles of perspective-taking and empathic concern (effect size = -0.091 and -0.097 respectively, < 0.001). Emotional abuse affected prosocial behavior only through personal distress (effect size = -0.072, < 0.001). Physical abuse, sexual abuse and physical neglect have little effect on prosocial behavior and empathy.
Childhood abuse and neglect have distinct influences on prosocial behavior. Emotional abuse and emotional neglect affect prosocial behavior through distinct pathways. This conclusion could help to establish precise interventions for improving prosocial behavior in maltreated individuals.
儿童期虐待和忽视通常被视为两种不同形式的虐待。以往的国际研究发现虐待和忽视对亲社会行为有不同影响，但这些关联及其潜在的中介途径尚未在中国样本中进行研究。我们的研究旨在探讨儿童期虐待和忽视对中国参与者亲社会行为的影响，并检验不同共情成分在这些关联中的独特中介作用。
从一所面向中国所有省份招生的大学招募了1569名年轻成年人（平均年龄=18.17岁）。参与者完成了一系列问卷，包括儿童创伤问卷、人际反应指数和亲社会倾向量表。进行路径分析以确定中介关系。
情感忽视对亲社会行为有显著直接影响（β=-0.108，p<0.001），并且还可以通过观点采择和共情关注的中介作用影响亲社会行为（效应量分别为-0.091和-0.097，p<0.001）。情感虐待仅通过个人痛苦影响亲社会行为（效应量=-0.072，p<0.001）。身体虐待、性虐待和身体忽视对亲社会行为和共情影响很小。
儿童期虐待和忽视对亲社会行为有不同影响。情感虐待和情感忽视通过不同途径影响亲社会行为。这一结论有助于为改善受虐待个体的亲社会行为建立精准干预措施。
