While the association between childhood physical maltreatment and aggression has been verified by many studies, the mechanisms of this relationship are still unclear, particularly in China. The present study delineated characteristics of childhood physical maltreatment among Chinese young adults and estimated the relationship between childhood physical maltreatment and aggression. Data were obtained from 809 college students aged 17 to 22 years. All participants completed measures of childhood physical maltreatment, aggression, resilience, and self-esteem. Rates of physical abuse and neglect were 27.81% and 64.88%, respectively; while there were significant gender differences in childhood physical maltreatment, gender did not moderate the relationship between childhood physical maltreatment and aggression. Childhood physical maltreatment was positively associated with aggression; moreover, resilience and self-esteem mediated this relationship. Findings suggest that childhood physical maltreatment is an important public health issue; it not only has direct effects on aggression, but also has indirect effects on aggression via resilience and self-esteem. Increasing resilience and self-esteem should be applied in interventions to reduce aggression of childhood physically maltreated young adults.

Although associations between physical or sexual abuse and aggression have been mainly explored, relationships and pathways between childhood emotional maltreatment and aggression need further exploration, particularly in the Chinese cultural context. This study aimed to explore the associations between childhood emotional maltreatment and aggression and to examine the mediating effects of resilience and self-esteem on those associations. Data were obtained from a convenience sampling of 809 (aged 17–23) college students from three Chinese universities in December 2021, which was approved by the ethics committee of Beijing Normal University, China. All participants completed measures of childhood emotional maltreatment, aggression, resilience, and self-esteem. The results showed that childhood emotional maltreatment was positively associated with aggression (r = 0.41, p < 0.01), and it was negatively associated with resilience (r = −0.56, p < 0.01) and self-esteem (r = −0.10, p < 0.01). Regarding the mediation processes, resilience and self-esteem partially mediated the relationships between childhood emotional maltreatment and aggression. These findings underscore the importance of enhancing levels of resilience and self-esteem in interventions designed to reduce aggression of college students who were emotionally maltreated in childhood.

Although research examining loneliness and social anxiety has been conducted, few studies have explored pathways from loneliness at home to social anxiety at school in Chinese left-behind children. The study attempts to explore associations between loneliness at home and social anxiety at school and to examine roles of self-esteem in those relationships among a sample of Chinese left-behind children. Date were collected from 303 left-behind children, aged 10–14 years, and the Chinese versions of Children’s Loneliness Scale, Social Anxiety Scale, and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale were used to measure loneliness at home, social anxiety at school, and self-esteem, respectively. Results showed that loneliness at home was positively associated with social anxiety at school; self-esteem played a partial mediation role in associations between loneliness at home and social anxiety at school. Findings suggest that high levels of self-esteem may influence pathways from loneliness at home to social anxiety at school in Chinese left-behind children, and increasing levels of self-esteem may be used in preventions for loneliness of Chinese left-behind children.

Introduction: Although the relationships between parental mental health and child internalizing and externalizing problems have been explored by previous studies, the pathways between these two variables need further exploration. The present study aims to explore the relationships between parental depression and child internalizing and externalizing problems and to examine the roles of parenting stress and child maltreatment in those relationships within the Chinese cultural context.Method: Data were collected from 855 Chinese families with preschool-aged children, and mediation analysis was used to examine the pathways between these variables.Results: The results show that parental depression is positively associated with child internalizing and externalizing problems, and child maltreatment and the combination of parenting stress and child maltreatment mediated the relationships between parental depression and child internalizing and externalizing problems, respectively. These findings suggest that parental depression not only has a direct effect on child internalizing and externalizing problems but also has an indirect effect via parenting stress and child maltreatment.Discussion: Decreasing the levels of parenting stress and child maltreatment should be applied in interventions to break the relationships between parental depression and child internalizing and externalizing problems within the Chinese cultural context.