The interaction effect of childhood emotional maltreatment and peer victimization on adolescents’ altruistic behaviors: Does gender matter?

The present study explored the effect of childhood emotional maltreatment as distal interpersonal stress and peer victimization as proximal interpersonal stress on adolescents’ altruistic behaviors, as well as the gender-specific effects with two waves of data collection intervals of six months. The subscale of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale, and the Altruistic Scale were administered to 604 adolescents (Mage = 14.50, SD = 0.73 at T1) to assess their childhood emotional maltreatment, peer victimization, and altruistic behaviors. The results indicated that both childhood emotional abuse and neglect at T1 negatively predicted T2 altruistic behaviors after controlling age and T1 altruistic behaviors. Moreover, the three-way interactive effect of T1 childhood emotional neglect, T2 peer victimization, and gender on adolescents’ T2 altruistic behaviors was significant. Specifically, the interaction between T1 childhood emotional neglect and T2 peer victimization was gender-specific (only significant among girls). Peer victimization at T1 negatively predicted altruistic behaviors at T2 in girls with low levels of childhood emotional neglect at T1 but not in girls with high levels of childhood emotional neglect at T1. The findings suggested that childhood emotional abuse and neglect were predictors of adolescents’ altruistic behaviors and childhood emotional neglect as distal interpersonal stress could interact with peer victimization as proximal interpersonal stress to impact adolescents’ altruistic behaviors among girls, which provided theoretical support for the stress sensitivity model and specific reference values for fostering adolescents’ altruistic behaviors.