Psychological Maltreatment and Spiritual Wellbeing in Turkish College Young Adults: Exploring the Mediating Effect of College Belonging and Social Support.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether college belonging and social support mediate the association between childhood psychological maltreatment and spiritual wellbeing among college young adults. The sample of the present study included 493 college young adults (33% male), ranging in age between 18 and 39 years (M = 21.35, SD = 2.56). The results showed that psychological maltreatment not only had a direct predictive effect on spiritual wellbeing but also an indirect predictive effect on spiritual wellbeing through college belonging and social support. These findings present important implications for research and practices by providing an in-depth understanding of the association between psychological maltreatment and spiritual wellbeing among Turkish college students.

Introduction

Psychological maltreatment is a prevalent form of child maltreatment, and approximately 50% of young people (aged 7–18) were exposed to psychological maltreatment in Turkey (UNICEF 2010). Globally, three in every four young people (300 million) have experienced psychological and/or psychical maltreatment (World Health Organization [WHO] 2020). Psychosocial maltreatment is committed by the caregivers and conveys to youths that they are unwanted, useless, unloved, unvalued, or flawed (Brassard et al. 2000), which is defined psychologically repeated harmful parental behaviors toward children younger than 18 years of age (Arslan 2015, 2017a). Previous evidence has indicated that psychological maltreatment has impairing impacts on both the current and the later cognitive, psychosocial, and behavioral adjustment and wellbeing of young people (Arslan 2016; Arslan and Balkıs 2016; Brodski and Hutz 2012; Egeland et al. 2002; Glaser 2002; Infurna et al. 2016; Young and Widom 2014). Several studies reported that psychological maltreatment was associated with greater psychosocial and behavioral problems, such as depressive symptoms, suicidal behaviors, and delinquency (Arslan and Balkıs 2016; Brown et al. 2016; Hong et al. 2018; Zhang et al. 2020; Kong and Martire 2019), as well as fewer subjective wellbeing (Arslan 2018a; Bostan and Duru 2019). However, very few have focused on the influence of psychological maltreatment on spiritual wellbeing, specifically, among college students.

Spiritual wellbeing is characterized by a sense of purpose and meaning and a relationship with God (Ellison 1983; Tanhan 2019) and encompasses existential features reflecting one’s relations with the self, others, and a higher being (Hood-Morris 1996; Tanhan 2019). Spiritual wellbeing is emphasized as an important indicator of better mental health and wellbeing (Koenig 2009; Tanhan and Francisco 2019). Previous research reported that spiritual wellbeing was positively associated with greater life satisfaction, increased mental health, adaptive personality traits, and higher quality of life, as well as negatively correlated with less death anxiety and lower psychological distress (Gomez and Fisher 2003; Zhang et al. 2015; Koenig 2009; Shirkavand et al. 2018; Unterrainer et al. 2014; Yildirim and Alanazi 2018; Yıldırım and Güler 2021). For example, in a recent qualitative study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, college students (18%) reported that practicing spiritual activities to be one of the most important facilitators for their mental health (Tanhan 2020). Participants also reported some other facilitators related to spirituality (e.g., being present at the moment %33, searching for meaning 12%). And more interestingly, 6% of the participants reported feeling lack of spiritual experience, feeling, or practices to be one of the most important concerns during the pandemic. Some studies also emphasized that child maltreatment, widely childhood sexual abuse, played as an important risk factor for lower spiritual well-being (Feinauer et al. 2003; Weber and Cummings 2003; Zhang et al. 2015). Therefore, it is critical to examine the association between psychological maltreatment and spiritual wellbeing and explore mechanisms that might help young adults to deal with the adverse impacts of psychological maltreatment to design mental health services. The present study aimed to examine mediating effect of social support and college belonging in the association of psychological maltreatment with spiritual wellbeing among young adults.

College Belonging and Social Support

People are social creatures desiring to have and sustain positive and meaningful relationships with others. Theoretically, belongingness or being related is a universal psychological need for human beings and an important construct that helps people to cope with adverse experiences (e.g., need-to-belong model, self-determination theory; Baumeister and Leary 1995; Deci and Ryan 1985). Within the school context, the need to belong (i.e., school or college belonging), is an essential psychological construct for the better mental health and flourishing of young adults (Allen and Kern 2017; Arslan 2020; Arslan et al. 2020a, b, 2021; Tanhan 2020; Yıldırım et al. 2020). A sense of belonging at school is widely characterized as one’s subjective feelings of being accepted, respected, included, and supported by teachers, friends, or other people in school (Arslan and Duru 2017; Goodenow 1993). Although a growing number of studies have emphasized the importance of school belonging for mental health and wellbeing, few have examined the sense of belonging of college students. Empirical evidence reported that young adults with a high sense of belonging exhibited fewer psychological problems (Arslan and Tanhan 2019a, b; Pittman and Richmond 2007; Tanhan and Strack 2020), more effective adaptive help-seeking strategies (Won et al. 2019), less loneliness (Arslan 2020; Mounts 2004), and greater wellbeing (Çivitci 2014; Tanhan and Francisco 2019). In addition, some research indicated that belonging had a promotive and protective effect on individuals’ mental health and adjustment in the face of adversities–including child maltreatment (Arslan 2020; Backhaus et al. 2019; Eisenberg et al. 2007; Zhang et al. 2020), and college belonging might hence mitigate the adverse impacts of psychological maltreatment on spiritual wellbeing.

Social support is another important mechanism that might promote young adults’ spiritual wellbeing in the face of psychological maltreatment. Social support is people’s network of material and psychological assets intended to improve their ability to deal with adverse life experiences (Arslan, 2018b; Cohen 2004; Tanhan and Francisco 2019; Yıldırım and Çelik-Tanrıverdi 2020). Thereby, social support refers to the quality and function of social relations that an individual receives from others such as support and help (Schwarzer and Knoll 2007). Several studies reported that child maltreatment was associated with low social support (Luo et al. 2020; Pepin and Banyard 2006; Vranceanu et al. 2007; Weber and Cummings 2003; Zhao et al. 2019). Having social support is essential for better mental health and wellbeing, and receiving social support from others (e.g., family, friends) help individuals to cope with adverse circumstances in their life (Arslan 2018b; Bloom et al. 2001; Cohen 2004; Cohen and Wills 1985; Doyumğaç et al. 2021; Tanhan 2020; Ye et al. 2020). Therefore, empirical evidence confirmed that social support promoted quality of life outcomes, physical and mental health (Duru et al. 2019; Hale et al. 2005; Hefner and Eisenberg 2009; Lavin et al. 2020; Moore and Diener 2019; Tanhan and Francisco 2019), and college students’ spiritual wellbeing (Alorani and Alradaydeh 2018; Tanhan and Strack 2020; Weber and Cummings 2003). Positive relationships with other people are a fundamental component of wellbeing (Ryff and Keyes 1995; Tanhan 2019), and having social support resources foster people’s wellbeing in the face of adversities (Arslan 2018b; Tanhan 2020). According to stress–buffer model, social support is an important coping mechanism to promote people’s mental health and wellbeing against stressors (Cohen and Wills 1985; Cohen et al. 1986; Arslan et al. 2021; Kızılgeçit et al. 2021). The stress-buffering hypothesis has emphasized that social support can eliminate or mitigate the negative association between stressful events (e.g., child maltreatment) and well-being and mental health (Cohen 2004; Cohen and Wills 1985). Additionally, the resource-oriented approach has emphasized that social support is an essential resource that is strongly associated with resilience (Arslan 2018b; Hobfoll 2001; Yıldırım and Çelik-Tanrıverdi 2020). Therefore, it is critical to examine the association between stressor types (e.g., psychological maltreatment) and social support. Taken together, the literature suggests that college belonging and social support might reduce the adverse effect of psychological maltreatment on young adults’ spiritual wellbeing and serve as a promotive factor to promote wellbeing in the face of this painful experience.

Present Study

Within the empirical evidence and theoretical framework sketched above, the objective of this study is to investigate whether college belonging and social support mediated the effect of psychological maltreatment on spiritual wellbeing among college young adults. Although psychological maltreatment is a serious risk factor for psychological health and adjustment, little is known about mitigating factors that might help people to deal with the harmful impacts of psychological maltreatment on young adults’ mental health and wellbeing. Therefore, a critical step is exploring these mechanisms that can contribute to developing intervention strategies to improve mental health and wellbeing among college young adults. To this end, we hypothesized that social support and college belonging would mediate the association between psychological maltreatment and spiritual wellbeing among young adults.

Method

Participants

The sample of the present study included 493 college young adults (33% male) from a state university in Turkey. Collegians ranged in age between 18 and 39 years (M = 21.35, SD = 2.56). College students also self-identified their socioeconomic status as follows: lower = 22.5%, middle = 50.5%, and upper = 27%, and the most of them were single (94%), see Table 1. A web-based online survey was generated to collect data, which was included the study measures and demographic items. Prior to starting the survey, a consent form was presented to students, which included the purpose of the study and informed the students, and the survey was completed by participants. All college students were invited to participate in the study during online distance education.

Table 1

Sample characteristics (N = 493)

Demographic variable
Gender
Female	67%
Male	33%
Age
Range	18–39
Mean (SD)	21.35 (2.56)
Socioeconomic status (SES)
Low	22.5%
Middle	50.5%
Upper	27.0%
Health status
Healthy	92.5%
Infected with the COVID-19	7.5%
Marital status
Single	94%
Married	6%

Measures

Psychological Maltreatment Questionnaire–Short Form (PMQ)

The PMQ is a 12-item self-report scale designed to measure psychologically abusive parental behaviors among Turkish youths (Arslan 2015, 2017a). All items in the measure are scored based on a 4-point scale, ranging from almost never (1) to almost always (4); e.g., “My parent would not care my thoughts.” Previous research indicated that the scale had strong internal reliability estimates in Turkish adults (Arslan 2017b). The scale had a strong internal reliability estimate with the sample in the study, as seen in Table 1.

Spiritual Wellbeing Scale (SWS)

The SWS is a 5-item self-report scale (e.g., “I feel a sense of purpose in my life”) developed to measure people’s spiritual wellbeing with scoring using a 5-point Likert type scale, ranging between 0 (not at all) and 4 (very much). Arslan and Yıldırım (2021) adapted the scale for the Turkish sample from The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-Sp-12), which was originally designed to measure the spiritual well-being of individuals with chronic and cancer illnesses (Bredle et al. 2011). The internal reliability estimate of the scale with the Turkish sample was strong (Arslan and Yıldırım 2021), and the scale had also strong internal reliability with this study sample, as seen in Table 1.

Brief Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (BPSSQ)

The BPSSQ is a 6-item self-report scale (e.g., “I know several people with whom I like to do things”) developed to assess an individual’s perceived social support (Kliem et al. 2015). Participants scored the scale items using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not true at all) to 5 (very true). The BPSSQ had an adequate internal reliability estimate with Turkish young adults (Yıldırım and Çelik-Tanrıverdi 2020). The scale also provided a strong internal reliability estimate with the sample of this study, see in Table 1.

College Belongingness Questionnaire (CBQ)

The CBQ is a 10-item self-report measure (e.g., “Overall, I feel happy to be at this university”) developed to assess the feelings of belonging of Turkish university students (Arslan 2020). Participants rated the scale items using a 7-point Likert-type scale, ranging between 1 (strongly disagree) and 7 (strongly agree). After reversing five social exclusion items, a total sense of belonging scores are provided by summing item responses. The scale had a strong internal reliability estimate with the Turkish sample (Arslan 2020). The internal reliability estimate of the scale with the present sample was strong, see in Table 1.

Analytic Process

Before conducting the primary analyses, preliminary analyses were examined including descriptive statistics and correlation estimates for the study variables. The assumption of normality was also checked using the scores of kurtosis and skewness, and their values <|2| are considered as acceptable for a normal distribution (Kline 2015). Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were examined to explore the associations between the variables in the study. Subsequently, mediation analyses were employed to investigate whether social support and college belonging mediated the relationship between psychological maltreatment and spiritual wellbeing using the PROCESS macro version 3.5 (Model 4) for SPSS (Hayes 2018). To examine the significance of indirect effects, the bootstrapping method with 10,000 resamples to estimate the 95% confidence intervals was used (Hayes 2018; Preacher and Hayes 2008). All analyses in the study were conducted using SPSS version 25.

Results

Preliminary analysis results indicated that that skewness and kurtosis scores ranged between − 1.17 and 1.67 (skewness and kurtosis values <|2|), which suggested that all variables had a relatively normal distribution, as shown in Table 1. Further study results revealed that psychological maltreatment had moderate and negative correlations with social support, college belonging, and spiritual wellbeing. Spiritual wellbeing was moderately and positively associated with social support and college belonging. Finally, social support had a moderate and positive correlation with college belonging. Descriptive statistics, correlation results, and internal reliability estimates for the variables of the study are presented in Table 2.

Table 2

Descriptive statistics

	Mean	SD	Skew	Kurt	α		1	2	3	4
1. Psychological maltreatment	19.25	7.05	1.42	1.67	.91		–	− .39	− .42	− .39
2. College belonging	52.61	9.88	− .63	.50	.81			–	.40	.42
3. Social support	24.25	5.37	− 1.17	.83	.88				–	.49
4. Spiritual wellbeing	13.58	4.31	− .76	.23	.83					–

All correlations are significant at the .001 level (2-tailed)

Mediating effect of social support and college belonging on the relationship of psychological maltreatment with spiritual wellbeing was performed using the PROCESS macro (Hayes 2018). Findings from mediation analyses showed that psychological maltreatment significantly and negatively predicted young adults’ sense of belonging and social support, as shown in Fig. 1. Psychological maltreatment accounted for 18% of the variance in social support and 15% of the variance in college belonging. Moreover, psychological maltreatment had a significant and negative direct predictive effect on young adults’ spiritual wellbeing and indirect effect on wellbeing through social support and college belonging. Spiritual wellbeing was significantly and positively predicted by social support and college belonging in young adults. Psychological maltreatment, social support, and college belonging, together, explained 32% of the variance in spiritual wellbeing, as seen in Fig. 1. The indict effects of psychological maltreatment on spiritual wellbeing were significant both for social support and for college belonging, as shown in Table 1. These results indicate that social support and college belonging are essential social resources to mitigate adverse impacts of psychological maltreatment, which in turn promote spiritual wellbeing among Turkish young people. Unstandardized direct and indirect coefficients for the mediation model are presented in Table 3.

Fig. 1

Mediation model indicating the mitigating effect of college belonging and social support

Table 3

Unstandardized coefficients for the mediation model

Consequent
Antecedent	Coeff	SE	t	p
M1 (College belonging)
X (Psychological maltreatment)	–.54	.05	–9.31	< .001
Constant	63.06	1.19	52.75	< .001
	R2 = .15
	F = 86.71; p < .001
	M2 (Social support)
X (Psychological maltreatment)	–.32	.03	–10.39	< .001
Constant	30.47	.63	47.77	< .001
	R2 = .18
	F = 108.04; p < .001
	Y1 (Spiritual wellbeing)
X (Psychological maltreatment)	–.10	.03	–3.69	< .001
M1 (College belonging)	.10	.02	5.30	< .001
M2 (Social support)	.26	.03	7.68	< .001
Constant	3.88	1.41	2.74	.006

Number of bootstrap samples for percentile bootstrap confidence intervals: 10,000

SE standard error, Coeff unstandardized coefficient. X independent variable, M mediator variables, Y outcomes or dependent variables

In addition, the visual modeling was performed to provide a better understanding of the association of psychological maltreatment with spiritual wellbeing through college belonging and social support using JASP version 0.14.1 (JASP Team 2020). Results from the visual modeling showed that young adults with high psychological maltreatment reported lower social support, college belonging, and spiritual wellbeing compared to those with low and moderate. Participants with less sense of belonging and social support experienced less spiritual wellbeing in the face of psychological maltreatment, as seen in Fig. 2. These results support the mediation analysis, suggesting that social support and college belonging are important social sources in promoting spiritual wellbeing in the face of psychological maltreatment.

Fig. 2

The visual modeling indicating the association between the variables of the study. Note. Intervals (categorical predictors) = Quartiles

Discussion

The present study provides insights into the understanding of the complex nature of the relationship between psychological maltreatment and spiritual wellbeing by exploring the mediating effect of college belonging and social support. Findings from this study first revealed that childhood psychological maltreatment was significantly associated with spiritual wellbeing, which was consistent with the findings from previous studies reporting that people who had childhood maltreatment were more likely to have lower religiosity and spiritual wellbeing later in life (Feinauer et al. 2003; Zhang et al. 2015; Weber and Cummings 2003). Psychological maltreatment not only impacts people’s physical, psychosocial, and behavioral development but also impacts their wellbeing indicators (e.g., spiritual wellbeing). People with a child maltreatment history experience greater spiritual injuries (e.g., guilt, fear of death, anger, and a belief that God is unfair) and report fewer spiritual behaviors (Lawson et al. 1998) that can lead to low spiritual wellbeing among young adults. Also, the correspondence hypothesis has emphasized that childhood attachments (e.g., secure, insecure) have established the foundations of spiritual wellbeing (Granqvist and Dickie 2006). However, psychological maltreatment, for example, causes insecure attachment in childhood (Crittenden and Ainsworth 1989), and maltreated people are thus less likely to make positive feelings of religiosity and spiritual activities compared to those who are non-maltreated (Waldron et al. 2018), which can be associated with low spiritual wellbeing.

Supporting the hypotheses of the study, the results further showed that psychological maltreatment not only had a direct predictive effect on fewer spiritual wellbeing but also an indirect predictive effect through college belonging and social support. These findings indicate that young people with high levels of psychological maltreatment report lower social support and college belonging, which in turn have less spiritual wellbeing. Psychological maltreatment thwarts the fulfillment of essential human needs, such as belonging (Hart et al. 1997) and is associated with various challenges (e.g., lower social connectedness, impaired empathy) in people’s interpersonal relationships (Arslan 2018a, b; Sun et al. 2020). Consistent with the literature indicating the significant effect of psychological maltreatment on attachment styles (Baer and Martinez 2006) and consistent with research suggesting that insecure attachment reduces an individual’s motivation to interact with others (Larose et al. 2002; Luo et al. 2020), the study results indicated that psychological maltreatment was associated with lower levels of social support and college belonging. The findings also revealed that college belonging and social support mitigated the effect of it on spiritual wellbeing, which was consistent with the evidence from previous research, indicating that individuals with high levels of social support and belongingness reported greater spiritual wellbeing (Alorani and Alradaydeh 2018; Tanhan and Strack 2020; Weber and Cummings 2003). The need to belong is an essential psychological need for the human being that helps people to deal with adverse experiences (Baumeister and Leary 1995; Deci and Ryan 1985; Tanhan 2019). Specifically, school or college belonging has been linked to a variety of adjustment and wellbeing outcomes, such as fewer depressive symptoms, less loneliness, and greater life satisfaction (Civitci 2015; Mounts 2004; Pittman and Richmond 2007; Tanhan 2020). College belonging might hence mitigate the negative effect of psychological maltreatment on wellbeing by providing a safer environment to young adults (Zhang et al. 2020; Tanhan and Francisco 2019), which in turn promotes spiritual wellbeing.

Social support was found as another factor that mitigated the predictive effect of psychological maltreatment on spiritual wellbeing among young adults. Individuals with high levels of social support reported greeter spiritual wellbeing in the context of childhood psychological maltreatment. These results indicate that having social support resources (e.g., friends, family) with whom fulfilling and meaningful relationships positively affect young adults’ spiritual wellbeing despite childhood maltreatment. People’s social support assets, therefore, improve their ability to cope with adversities (Arslan 2018b; Cohen 2004; Tanhan 2019) by fostering resilience (Yıldırım and Çelik-Tanrıverdi 2020), and these assets also help them to receive support from others and to exhibit help-seeking behaviors in dealing with these experiences (Barker et al. 2005; Schwarzer and Knoll 2007). Consistent with the findings of this study, studies reported that having social support was associated with better mental health and wellbeing (Arslan 2017c; Arslan 2018b; Arslan and Coşkun 2020; Bloom et al. 2001; Cohen 2004; Cohen and Wills 1985; Kansky and Diener 2017; Tanhan 2020; Ye et al. 2020), including college students’ spiritual wellbeing (Alorani and Alradaydeh 2018; Tanhan and Strack 2020; Weber and Cummings 2003). Theoretically, social support is an essential resource to foster both people’s wellbeing and resilience against stressors (Cohen et al. 1986; Cohen and Wills 1985; Tanhan 2019; Yıldırım and Çelik-Tanrıverdi 2020). When people are faced with adversities, they need various resources provided by other people to deal with these experiences, which in turn positively contribute to their wellbeing (Arslan 2018b; Yıldırım and Arslan 2020; Yıldırım et al. 2020). However, people who have suffered psychological maltreatment are more likely to experience challenges in their abilities to evaluate and recognize the social support resources from others (Luo et al. 2020; Tanhan 2019), which may lead to increased negative feelings and thoughts (e.g., loneliness, distress, stigma), and in turn, causes decreased wellbeing (Allen et al. 2020; Yıldırım et al. 2020). Having social support resources also provides young adults with more social comfort and better interpersonal relationships (Alorani and Alradaydeh 2018; Tanhan 2019) which increases their spiritual wellbeing. Therefore, social support might serve as an important resilience resource by enhancing the ability of people to deal with the adverse impacts of childhood psychological maltreatment. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that social support and college belonging are important sources in mitigating the effect of psychological maltreatment on spiritual wellbeing among Turkish college young adults.

Limitations and Implications

The present study has a few methodological limitations that should be pointed out for future research. First of all, the data of the study were gathered using a convenience sampling approach, and the findings of the study could thus not be generalized to all Turkish young adults. Secondly, a cross-sectional design was used to examine the association between the variables in the study. Future research is warranted to explore how college belonging and social support mediate the impact of childhood maltreatment on wellbeing using longitudinal designs. Thirdly, self-reported measurement tools are considered another limitation of the present study, and future studies could be conducted using various data collection approaches (e.g., experimental designs, qualitative studies) to reduce subject related biases that could have affected the emerging results. For example, a quite new and innovative qualitative research method called Online Photovoice (OPV) can be used to provide additional insights into the association between study variables (Genç et al. 2021; Tanhan 2020). Finally, college belonging and social support were examined as mediators in the link between childhood psychological maltreatment and spiritual wellbeing. There is a need to understand how other promotive factors (e.g., meaning in life, resilience, and peer relationships) mediate the adverse impacts of psychological maltreatment on wellbeing indicators (Arslan and Yıldırım 2021; Arslan et al. 2021; Kızılgeçit et al. 2021). Furthermore, the sample of this study is not diverse enough (e.g., 67% female), which might prevent the generalizability of the study results. Further research could use more diverse samples to improve generalizability. These studies might also examine the effects of demographic characteristics on the variables used in this study.

Despite these limitations noted above, the findings of the study provide important implications for research and practices by providing an in-depth understanding of the association between psychological maltreatment and spiritual wellbeing among Turkish college students. Considering the negative impacts of childhood psychological maltreatment on people’s mental health and flourishing, exploring the role of promotive factors is a critical step to develop intervention strategies to foster mental health and wellbeing. First, the findings showed that childhood psychological maltreatment is a significant risk factor in developing poor spiritual wellbeing in young adults. In addition, the results showed that college belonging and social support mitigated the impacts of psychological maltreatment on young adults’ spiritual wellbeing. Social support and college belonging-based practices and strategies might be useful to help young adults in overcoming childhood psychological maltreatment and in fostering their spiritual wellbeing. Therefore, mental health providers could design interventions to enhance young adults’ abilities and social skills that contribute to their social support resources and promote their sense of belonging. For example, school-based mental health providers can organize social activities that contribute to the development of positive interpersonal interactions and supportive relationships to promote college students’ social support and sense of belonging, ultimately, enhance their spiritual wellbeing. Intervention programs focusing on social support and belongings in those experiencing childhood maltreatment are thus essential to improve the spiritual wellbeing of young adults. In conclusion, the findings of the present study indicate that childhood psychological maltreatment is an important risk factor in developing poor spiritual wellbeing among young adults and that college belonging and social support function as promotive resources mitigating the adverse impacts of this experience on wellbeing.