Childhood trauma and current depression among Chinese university students: a moderated mediation model of cognitive emotion regulation strategies and neuroticism

Qianqian Chu; Xiang Wang; Rui Yao; Jie Fan; Ya Li; Fei Nie; Lifeng Wang; Qiuping Tang

doi:10.1186/s12888-021-03673-6

Childhood trauma and current depression among Chinese university students: a moderated mediation model of cognitive emotion regulation strategies and neuroticism

BMC Psychiatry. 2022 Feb 7;22(1):90. doi: 10.1186/s12888-021-03673-6.

Authors

Qianqian Chu¹, Xiang Wang², Rui Yao³, Jie Fan², Ya Li⁴, Fei Nie¹, Lifeng Wang¹, Qiuping Tang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Psychology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410013, China.
² Medical Psychological Center, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 41000, China.
³ Center for Psychological Development and Service, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Hunan, 410208, Changsha, China.
⁴ School of Nursing, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan, 410208, China.
⁵ Department of Clinical Psychology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410013, China. tt96@sina.com.

Abstract

Background: Childhood trauma (CT) is considered as a highly risk factor for depression. Although the pathway of CT to depression, especially the mediating or moderating effects of cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS) or neuroticism, have investigated by several studies, the results were inconsistent and there is a paucity of full models among these interactive factors. This study aims to examine the relationships among CT, adaptive / maladaptive CERS, neuroticism, and current depression symptoms in university students.

Methods: We recruited 3009 freshman of 2019, aged averagely 18.00 (SD = 0.772) years, from universities in Hunan province in 2019. A moderated mediation model was built to examine the relationships among CT, CERS, neuroticism, and current depression using the SPSS PROCESS 3.5 macro. We conducted bootstrapping of regression estimates with 5000 samples and 95% confidence interval.

Results: Results revealed that the significant mediating effects of adaptive CERS (β = 0.012; 95% CI: 0.006 to 0.018) and maladaptive CERS (β = 0.028; 95% CI: 0.016 to 0.040) between CT and depression were observed, accounting for 5.69% and 13.52% of the total effect respectively. Then, moderated mediation analyses results showed that neuroticism simultaneously moderated the direct effect of CT on current depression (β = 0.035; 95% CI: 0.001 to 0.009), and the indirect effects of CT on current depression through adaptive CERS (adaptive CERS - current depression: β = - 0.034; 95% CI: - 0.007 to - 0.001) and maladaptive CERS (maladaptive CERS - current depression: β = 0.157; 95% CI: 0.017 to 0.025). However, the moderating effects of neuroticism in the indirect paths from CT to adaptive CERS (β = 0.037; 95% CI: 0.000 to 0.014) and maladaptive CERS (β = - 0.001; 95% CI: - 0.006 to 0.005) were not significant.

Conclusions: This study provides powerful evidences through a large university students sample for the mediating role of adaptive / maladaptive CERS and the moderating role of neuroticism between CT and current depression. This manifests that cognitive emotion regulation may be a vital factor for people who suffered from CT and current depression. Furthermore, the influence of neuroticism in this process cannot be ignored.

Keywords: Adaptive / maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies; Childhood trauma (CT); Depression; Moderated mediation model; Neuroticism.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adverse Childhood Experiences*
Aged
China
Cognition
Depression / psychology
Emotional Regulation*
Humans
Neuroticism
Students
Universities