The relation between childhood maltreatment and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in emerging adults: A daily diary...

Prior research has reported that childhood maltreatment is associated with poor well-being, but few studies have examined the association between childhood maltreatment and well-being including hedonic and eudaimonic well-being using a daily diary method.

The present study investigated the association between childhood maltreatment and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, and explored the mediating effects of social support and self-esteem.

Data were collected applying a 14-day daily diary method in two samples. A total of 120 Chinese emerging adults (100 female; M_age = 20.48 years, age range = 18-24 years) and 229 Chinese emerging adults (187 female; M_age = 20.43 years, age range = 18-27 years) comprised the discovery sample and the replication sample, respectively.

Multilevel regression analysis and multilevel mediation analysis were conducted, while controlling for sex, age, and socioeconomic status.

In the discovery sample, the multilevel regression analysis showed that childhood maltreatment had an equal effect on predicting the two types of well-being. Additionally, the multilevel mediation analysis demonstrated that social support and self-esteem acted as independent and equally important mediators of the associations between childhood maltreatment and the two types of well-being. Moreover, the total indirect effect on the childhood maltreatment-hedonic well-being link had no significant difference from that on the childhood maltreatment-eudaimonic well-being link. The replication sample reconfirmed the results of the discovery sample, which provides greater credibility to our findings.

Social support and self-esteem might help to improve the well-being of emerging adults who have suffered childhood maltreatment, and might therefore be important intervention targets.