ABSTRACT
The literature suggests that negative childhood experiences that affect a child’s self-concept are one of the determinants of materialism in adulthood. This study investigated the relationship between retrospectively reported childhood maltreatment and materialism in young adulthood in order to understand the psychological mechanisms of this relationship by testing a serial triple mediation model with recalled childhood self-esteem, recalled childhood materialism, and current self-esteem as mediators. We used the Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) methodology with a sample of Polish young adults (20–25 years old, N = 443). Participants answered a retrospective questionnaire concerning childhood experiences aged 7–9 (childhood maltreatment, self-esteem, and materialism) and questions about the present (current self-esteem and materialism). The results suggest that adult recollections of childhood maltreatment are associated with materialism in young adulthood. Moreover, our analyses identified several indirect pathways through which recollected experiences of maltreatment may contribute to higher materialism in adulthood, specifically via retrospectively reported self-esteem and materialism in childhood, as well as self-esteem in adulthood. These suggest that the long-term economic implications of maltreatment may be broader and more complex than previously assumed.