The Relationship between Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health with the Mediation of Experiential Avoidance in Girl Students

The present study aimed to determine the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health through the mediating role of experiential avoidance in girl students. The research method was descriptive-correlation and structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all-girl undergraduate students of Razi University of Kermanshah in the academic year 2019-2020, from which 366 students were selected as a sample group by multi-stage cluster sampling and were surveyed by Child Abuse Self-Report Scale (SASRS), Depression, Anxiety & Stress Scale (DASS-21), and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and path analysis using version 26 of SPSS and AMOS software. The results indicate a significant mediating role of experiential avoidance for the relationship between childhood maltreatment and depression (β: 0.22), anxiety (β: 0.12), and stress (0.17). According to the results of the present study, childhood maltreatment is the basis for using an experiential avoidance strategy, which leads to an increase in depression, anxiety, and stress in victims of childhood maltreatment.