Childhood trauma as a mediator between emotional intelligence and recidivism in male offenders

Background: Prior researches have implicated a relationship of recidivism with childhood trauma (CT) and emotional intelligence (EI). However, the internal mechanism by which CT and EI influence the recidivism has not been examined. Objective: This study aimed to map the road from CT and EI to recidivism in Chinese male offenders. Participants and setting: Three thousand one hundred and eighty-one Chinese adult male offenders participated in this study and completed Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS). Recidivism was quantified by the number of convictions according to official records. Methods: After controlling for age, education levels, family criminal history, and nature of offence, logistic regression sanalysis was performed to examine the effects of CT and EI on severity of recidivism. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied to explore the mediation model between CT, EI and recidivism. Results: Logistic regression model shows a significant effect of CT (OR = 1.008, p < 0.01), rather than EI, on recidivism. SEM supported a full mediating effect of CT in the relationship between EI and severity of recidivism. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that EI has no direct effect on the recidivism, but exerts indirect influence on the recidivism through the mediating role of childhood trauma.