Childhood maltreatment, spiritual wellbeing, and stress-related growth in emerging adults: A conditional approach to responsibility

Abstract The current cross-sectional study aims to examine whether spiritual wellbeing mediates between childhood psychological maltreatment and stress-related growth in emerging adults. We also aim to investigate the moderating role of responsibility on the mediating effect of spiritual wellbeing between childhood maltreatment and stress-related growth. The sample of the study consisted of 501 undergraduate emerging adults from different public universities in Türkiye, with 66.5% of whom were female and aged between 18 and 25 years. Results showed that childhood psychological maltreatment had significant associations with responsibility, spiritual wellbeing, and growth. Additionally, spiritual wellbeing acted as a mediator between childhood maltreatment and stress-related growth in emerging adults. Further, the results indicated that responsibility moderated the mediating effect of spiritual wellbeing on the link between psychological maltreatment and stress-related growth. The study results underscore the mediating role of the spiritual wellbeing in the association between childhood maltreatment and stress-related growth and the protective role of a sense of responsibility in this mediating model. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of spiritual wellbeing and responsibility in promoting positive outcomes in emerging adults, particularly in the face of adverse childhood experiences.