Although childhood psychological maltreatment has been shown to play an important role in moral disengagement, little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relationship. This study examined whether callous-unemotional (CU) traits mediated the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and moral disengagement, and whether this mediating process was moderated by empathy. Eight hundred and thirty-nine Chinese college students completed the measures of childhood psychological maltreatment, CU traits, moral disengagement, and empathy. The results indicated that childhood psychological maltreatment was significantly and positively associated with moral disengagement and this relationship was partially mediated by CU traits. Empathy further moderated the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and CU traits as well as childhood psychological maltreatment and moral disengagement. Specifically, the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and CU traits was significant for college students with low empathy, while it became non-significant for those with high empathy. The relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and moral disengagement became was weaker for high empathy among college students.

Introduction

Childhood maltreatment is a worldwide public health problem with adverse effects on the physiological and psychological development of individuals (Carlson, Oshri, & Kwon, 2015; Hodgdon, 2009; Wang et al., 2017b). It is also a widespread and serious problem among college students in China, due to the fact that the pooled prevalence of childhood maltreatment reported by Chinese college students was 64.7% (Fu et al., 2018). Studies that have considered types of maltreatment have typically focused on physical and sexual abuse, while psychological maltreatment has received scant attention (Feiring & Zielinski, 2011; Fu et al., 2018; Miller-Perrin, Perrin, & Kocur, 2009). However, psychological maltreatment is a central issue in all forms of child maltreatment experiences (Arslan, 2017; Jellen, Mccarroll, & Thayer, 2001; Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 2007). Miller-Perrin and colleagues further find that the effect of psychological maltreatment on college students’ psychological outcomes (e.g., anxiety, depression, and hostility) is more important than physical abuse (Miller-Perrin et al., 2009). A meta-analysis indicates that psychological maltreatment is 36.7% reported by Chinese college students (Fu et al., 2018). Childhood psychological maltreatment (henceforth CPM), also known as emotional maltreatment or psychological aggression, is a repeated pattern of behaviors that conveys to children under the age of 18 that they are worthless, unwanted, unloved, only of value in meeting the needs of others that cause lasting damage to their cognitive, emotional and behavioral development (Arslan, 2017; Deng, Pan, Tang, Yuan, & Xiao, 2007; Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 2007; Miller-Perrin et al., 2009; Paul & Eckenrode, 2015).