Childhood Maltreatment and Parental Marital Satisfaction: The Roles of Depression and Anxiety

Abstract

Abstract Background: Although previous studies have explored the relationships between childhood maltreatment and marital satisfaction, the pathways of these two variables are still unclear, particularly in parents with preschool-aged children. The current study attempts to verify the relationships between childhood maltreatment and parental marital satisfaction, and to explore the roles of depression and anxiety in those relationships. Methods: Data were collected from 855 parents who have preschool-aged children with questionnaires, and mediation analysis was conducted to do the data analysis. Results: The results showed that childhood maltreatment negatively predicted with parental marital satisfaction, and depression and anxiety serially mediated those relationships. Findings suggest that childhood maltreatment not only have a direct effect on parental marital satisfaction, but also have an indirect effect on parental marital satisfaction via depression and anxiety. Conclusions: Increasing the levels of mental health should be applied in interventions to break the relationships between childhood maltreatment and marital satisfaction under the Chinese cultural context.