Longitudinal Association Between Childhood Emotional Maltreatment and Gratitude in Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Parent-Child Attachment.

Abstract

Childhood emotional maltreatment is a crucial risk factor for gratitude in adolescents. However, previous research has not investigated the effects of two types of emotional maltreatment (i.e., emotional abuse and emotional neglect) on gratitude, and explored the underlying mechanisms. To address existing research gaps, this study investigated how childhood emotional maltreatment affected adolescent gratitude, as well as the potential role of parent-child attachment in the Chinese context. A total of 491 Chinese adolescents from a public high school (M_age = 16.19 years, SD = 0.50; 60.5% female) participated in this 10-month, three-wave longitudinal study. The path analysis revealed that cumulative childhood emotional maltreatment and childhood emotional neglect at T1 predicted lower levels of gratitude at T3, while childhood emotional abuse did not. Additionally, parent-child attachment at T2 mediated the relationship between cumulative childhood emotional maltreatment at T1 and gratitude at T3. These findings underscore the enduring negative impact of childhood emotional maltreatment on adolescent gratitude and highlight the crucial role of parent-child attachment in this relationship.