How Childhood Maltreatment Predicts Prosocial Behaviors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Childhood maltreatment is closely related to prosocial behaviors, which usually emerges from early childhood to early adolescence. There has been, however, no agreement on the results regarding the individual and joint effects of maltreatment subtypes. This study aims to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between maltreatment subtypes and prosocial behaviors. A total of 29 studies with 30 independent samples and 81 independent effect sizes are included in this meta-analysis (n = 58,047; 55.61% female). The results indicate a significant but modest negative association between childhood maltreatment and prosocial behaviors (r = -0.127; z = 4.51, p < 0.001). Among other things, neglect shows the largest effect size (r = -0.130; z = 3.36, p < 0.01). Multiple subtypes of childhood maltreatment displays a larger effect size (r = -0.138; z = 4.29, p < 0.001) than any single subtype of childhood maltreatment. Overall, by clarifying the differential negative associations of single maltreatment subtypes and the stronger negative effects of multiple subtypes, this study moves beyond the either-or debates between the altruism inhibition assumption and the altruism born of suffering assumption. It thereby provides nuanced evidence that avoids aligning with either extreme position. These findings highlight the importance of targeted interventions, such as addressing neglect specifically or responding to multiple maltreatment subtypes comprehensively, in promoting empathy and fostering posttraumatic growth to facilitate moral development in adolescence.