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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Few studies have explored the impact of trauma-related guilt, trauma-related shame and prosocial behaviors on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and college students' NSSI.
OBJECTIVE: The present study examined how trauma-related guilt, trauma-related shame, and prosocial behaviors mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and college students' NSSI. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The sample comprised 496 college students (40.7 % male participants, age = 18.98 ± 1.35 years) from five universities in China.
METHODS: This longitudinal study was conducted three times with a six-month interval. Childhood maltreatment was assessed at Time 1; trauma-related guilt, trauma-related shame, and prosocial behaviors were assessed at Time 2; and NSSI was assessed at Time 3.
RESULTS: The results suggested that prosocial behaviors mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and college students' NSSI (β = 0.021, 95 % CI = 0.005 to 0.049), and trauma-related shame played a mediating role in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and college students' NSSI (β = 0.030, 95 % CI = 0.004 to 0.077). In addition, trauma-related guilt and prosocial behaviors showed a serial mediating effect between childhood maltreatment and NSSI (β = -0.002, 95 % CI = -0.009 to -0.0003). Trauma-related shame and prosocial behaviors also showed a serial mediating effect between childhood maltreatment and NSSI (β = 0.002, 95 % CI = 0.0002 to 0.009).
CONCLUSION: Prosocial behaviors act as a protective factor of college students' NSSI. Trauma-related shame following childhood maltreatment could reduce prosocial behaviors, which may ultimately increase NSSI.
Language: en |