The investigation of the relationship between childhood trauma and embitterment: The role of belief in a just world and COVID-19 related negative life events

Embitterment is a negative reaction to perceived injustice, insult and breach of trust. The present study investigated the association of childhood trauma with embitterment, whether Belief in a Just World (BJW) mediates this association. Additionally, COVID-19 related negative life events' moderator role in the direct and indirect associations between childhood trauma and embitterment was also investigated. The sample included 343 individuals from adult community sample, ages between 19 to 79. Data were collected from December 2021 to March 2022 through Qualtrics and analyzed using regression analysis. Results suggested that there was positive association between childhood trauma and embitterment, when BJW was controlled. Moreover, according to the results of the mediation analysis, BJW partially mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and embitterment. There was a significant negative association of childhood trauma with BJW; and a significant negative association of BJW with embitterment. However, experiencing COVID-19 related negative life events did not moderate the direct or indirect associations between childhood trauma and embitterment. Additionally, post-hoc analysis revealed that while the personal BJW played a mediating role between childhood trauma and embitterment; general BJW did not. These findings indicated that the traumatic events experienced in childhood have a crucial role on experiencing embitterment in adulthood. Moreover, BJW mediated the association between childhood trauma and embitterment.