Childhood Trauma and Adult Mental Health among University Students: Social Support as a Moderator
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52053/jpap.v6i4.448Keywords:
Childhood Trauma, Mental Health, Social Support, StudentsAbstract
Adverse childhood experiences play a significant role in the development of mental health issues throughout the life span. The current study was conducted to examine the moderating role of social support in the association between adverse childhood experiences and mental health issues. The study was based on a cross-sectional design and comprised a sample of university students (N=213) with an age range of 18 to 30 years, approached through a convenience sampling technique. The childhood trauma questionnaire (CHQ), the mental health inventory (MHI), and the multidimensional scale for perceived social support (MSPSS) were administered. The findings of the study revealed that childhood adverse events were significantly positively associated with anxiety, depression, and loss of behavioral control. On the other hand, childhood trauma showed a negative association with social support, general positive affect, emotional ties, and life satisfaction. Furthermore, the interaction between childhood trauma and social support significantly predicted anxiety, depression, and loss of behavioral control, while adversely predicting general positive affect and life satisfaction, although, the relationship between childhood trauma and emotional ties was not moderated by social support. Additionally, levels of childhood trauma, anxiety, depression, and loss of control were higher in female students than in male students. In contrast, male students showed a high level of social support, general positive affect, emotional ties, and life satisfaction as compared to females. Overall findings uncover the role of social support in association with adverse psychological effects of childhood trauma and positive mental health outcomes.
References
Bernstein, D. P., & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A retrospective self-report manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Brown, S., & Welc, B. (2024). The impact of social support and social network characteristics on trauma symptoms among violence-exposed women with substance use disorders. Substance Use & Misuse, 60(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2024.2403128
Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310-357. doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310
Daníelsdóttir, H. B., Aspelund, T., Shen, Q., Halldorsdottir, T., Jakobsdóttir, J., Song, H., Lu, D., Kuja-Halkola, R., Larsson, H., Fall, K., Magnusson, P. K. E., Fang, F., Bergstedt, J., & Valdimarsdóttir, U. A. (2024). Adverse childhood experiences and adult mental health outcomes. JAMA Psychiatry, 81(6), 586–594. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.0039
Downey, C., & Crummy, A. (2022). The impact of childhood trauma on children's wellbeing and adult behavior. European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 6(1), 100237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejtd.2021.100237
Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245-258. doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8
Herzog, J. I., & Schmahl, C. (2018). Adverse childhood experiences and the consequences on neurobiological, psychosocial, and somatic conditions across the lifespan. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 420. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00420
Hu, F.-H., Zhao, D.-Y., Fu, X.-L., Zhang, W.-Q., Tang, W., Hu, S.-Q., Shen, W.-Q., & Chen, H.-L. (2023). Effects of social support on suicide-related behaviors in patients with severe mental illness: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 328, 324–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.02.070
Karatzias, T., Shevlin, M., Ford, J. D., Fyvie, C., Grandison, G., Hyland, P., & Cloitre, M. (2022). Childhood trauma, attachment orientation, and complex PTSD (CPTSD) symptoms in a clinical sample: Implications for treatment. Development and Psychopathology, 34(3), 1192–1197. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579420001509
Khalid, A., Ghaffari, A. S., Iqbal, K., & Su, Y. (2025). Mediating role of coping strategies in the relationship between death anxiety and insomnia among patients with non-communicable diseases: A gender perspective. Scientific Reports, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99348-3
Khan, M. J., & Arif, A. (2019). Role of social support as predictor of mental health among university students. Journal of Research and Reflections in Education, 13(1), 1–11. http://www.ue.edu.pk/jrre
Li, M., D’Arcy, C., & Meng, X. (2016). Maltreatment in childhood substantially increases the risk of adult depression and anxiety in prospective cohort studies: systematic review, meta-analysis, and proportional attributable fractions. Psychological Medicine, 46(4), 717–730. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291715002743
Luo, Q., Xu, Q., Zhu, L., Liao, J., Liang, X., Xia, J., Lin, X., & Peng, H. (2025). Social support and depressive symptoms: The role of childhood maltreatment and brain activity in a moderated mediation model. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 20(1), nsaf077. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaf077
Masten, A. S., Lucke, C. M., Nelson, K. M., & Stallworthy, I. C. (2021). Resilience in development and psychopathology: Multisystem perspectives. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 17, 521–549. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-081219-120307
Merrick, M. T., Ford, D. C., Ports, K. A., Guinn, A. S., Chen, J., Klevens, J., Metzler, M., Jones, C. M., Simon, T. R., Daniel, V. M., Ottley, P., & Mercy, J. A. (2019). Vital signs: Estimated proportion of adult health problems attributable to adverse childhood experiences and implications for prevention - 25 states, 2015-2017. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 68(44), 999–1005. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6844e1
Nelson, J., Klumparendt, A., Doebler, P., & Ehring, T. (2017). Childhood maltreatment and characteristics of adult depression: meta-analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science, 210(2), 96–104. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.115.180752
Shonkoff, J. P., Slopen, N., & Williams, D. R. (2021). Early childhood adversity, toxic stress, and the impacts of racism on the foundations of health. Annual Review of Public Health, 42, 115–134. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090419-101940
Teicher, M. H., & Samson, J. A. (2016). Annual Research Review: Enduring neurobiological effects of childhood abuse and neglect. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(3), 241–266. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12470
Van Assche, L., Van de Ven, L., Vandenbulcke, M., & Luyten, P. (2020). Ghosts from the past? The association between childhood interpersonal trauma, attachment and anxiety and depression in late life. Aging & Mental Health, 24(6), 898–905. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2019.1571017
Veit, C. T., & Ware, J. E. (1983). The structure of psychological distress and well-being in general populations. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51(5), 730–742. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.51.5.730
World Health Organization. (2022). Mental health: Strengthening our response. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response
Zhang, Q., Zhang, Q., Ran, G., Ran, G., & Liang, Y. (2023). Childhood abuse and depression in emerging adults: The mediating role of regulatory emotional self-efficacy and the moderating role of subjective social status. Journal of Adult Development, 31(3), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-023-09463-6
Zimet, G. D.; Dahlem, N. W.; Zimet, S. G.; & Farley, G. K. (1988). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30-41.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ammara Sajid, Arslan Khalid, Khizra Iqbal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License (https://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-Commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the Journal website at (https://iprpk.com/ojs/index.php/jpap)
