Assessing the Effects of Childhood Multitype Maltreatment on Adult Spirituality

Continued research regarding the effects of experiencing multiple types of childhood maltreatment is necessary in gauging the impact of such experiences on survivors. In an effort to contribute to this area of study, the authors investigated the relationship between multitype childhood maltreatment and adult spirituality and compared three established methods of assessing the these effects to investigate the degree to which a researcher's choice of method might affect their findings. Surveys were completed by 254 university students that included data on childhood maltreatment and current spirituality. Findings suggest the presence of a dose response between multitype childhood maltreatment and adult spirituality and that the researcher's assessment method choice can affect findings of the research. In addition, the authors report their findings on the unique effects of five types of childhood maltreatment on adult spirituality. Emotional neglect and emotional abuse were found to be associated with lower levels of spirituality; no significant relationships were found between sexual abuse, physical abuse, and physical neglect and spirituality. The findings suggest the need for further study regarding the effects of experiencing multiple types of childhood maltreatment, the most accurate methods of assessing those effects on survivors, and the relationship between multitype maltreatment and spirituality.