Childhood trauma is a well-established risk factor for diminished quality of life in adulthood. This study investigates how childhood traumatic experiences affect quality of life through a serial mediation model involving self-control, sense of community, job satisfaction, and couple satisfaction. A survey was conducted with 1,530 married, full-time employed residents of Hong Kong (585 female; Mage = 48.49, SD = 10.76, range = 21-65) between September 2023 and June 2024, using street-intercept and snowball sampling. Participants completed validated measures of childhood trauma, self-control, sense of community, job satisfaction, couple satisfaction, and quality of life. Analyses using Hayes's PROCESS Macro (Model 81) with 5,000 bootstrap samples revealed a significant negative total effect of childhood trauma on quality of life. As hypothesized, a serial mediation pathway was observed: greater childhood trauma predicted lower self-control, which was positively linked to sense of community, job satisfaction, and couple satisfaction, ultimately contributing to reduced quality of life. These findings suggest that the detrimental impact of childhood trauma unfolds through interconnected relational, occupational, and communal domains rather than isolated mechanisms.
Importantly, the results underscore the pivotal role of self-control as a central resilience factor that may buffer the downstream effects of early adversity. By situating self-control within a multilevel resilience framework, encompassing individual capacities, relational resources, and community integration, this study highlights the value of holistic, trauma-informed interventions aimed at strengthening resilience across life domains to enhance adults' quality of life.