Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Depressive Symptoms of Young Adults: Mediating Role of Childhood Trauma

Caiyan Yang; Peiyi Chen; Junyi Xie; Yongtong He; You Wang; Xueling Yang

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.706559

Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Depressive Symptoms of Young Adults: Mediating Role of Childhood Trauma

Front Psychiatry. 2021 Nov 30:12:706559. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.706559. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Caiyan Yang¹, Peiyi Chen¹, Junyi Xie¹, Yongtong He¹, You Wang^{1

2

3}, Xueling Yang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
² Department of Psychiatry, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Gaungzhou, China.
³ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Diseases, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: Studies have shown that low childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with a high prevalence of depressive symptoms. Childhood trauma, as a potential consequence of low SES, may play an important part, but the mediation effect of childhood trauma remains to be elucidated. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,807 university students. The MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Economic Status-Youth Version, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and Beck Depression Inventory were used to measure childhood SES, childhood trauma, and current depressive symptoms, respectively. A structural equation model (SEM) was employed to demonstrate the mediating role of childhood trauma on the association between childhood SES and depressive symptoms. Results: The SEM demonstrated that childhood SES had significant indirect effects upon depressive symptoms via childhood trauma. Childhood trauma accounted for 89.3% of the total effect, indicating a profound mediation effect. Conclusions: The effect of childhood SES on the depressive symptoms of young adults was mediated by childhood trauma, which emphasizes the importance of early prevention and intervention of child neglect/abuse.

Keywords: China; childhood trauma; depressive symptoms; socioeconomic status; young adults.