Childhood Maltreatment and Depression in Adulthood in Chinese Female College Students: The Mediating Effect of Coping Style.

Zheng Zheng,Ning Zhang,Yuan Zhou,Wenyue Han

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.581564

Abstract

Depression is the most common psychological disorder of female, with high disability rate and remarkable mortality rate. There is a lack of knowledge about childhood experience, coping style, and adult depression. The aim of the present research was to enrich this knowledge by investigating the mediating effect of coping style between childhood maltreatment and depression in adulthood in Chinese female college students. Self-report questionnaires assessing childhood maltreatment, depression, and coping style were completed in 738 participants. The results illustrated that childhood maltreatment was positively related to depression in adulthood while coping style was negatively related to depression. In addition, childhood maltreatment could influence adult depression through the mediating role of coping style. These findings indicate that childhood maltreatment and negative coping style are associated with depression in adulthood. Psychological intervention strategies for coping style could provide effective treatment direction for depression caused by childhood maltreatment.

Highlights

Depression is the leading cause of disability among people across the globe
As revealed in the table, CM was positively related to adult depression, whereas coping style was negatively related to CM and adult depression
It is important to understand the mechanism of their interaction for the provision of prevention and intervention services, which can help individuals with CM experience to better deal with emotional problems

Summary

Introduction

Depression is the leading cause of disability among people across the globe. It was estimated that the proportion of people suffering from depression in 2015 was 4.4%, and women (5.1%) were more common than men (3.6%) [1]. Depression is common among the youth, and often indicates chronic and recurrent diseases in adulthood. Many psychosocial factors may affect depression, including cognitive impairment, stressor in life and circumstance, parental depression, interpersonal distress, and female gender [3]. As one of the stressors in life, has been considered as a factor leading to depression [4]. The understanding of depression should consider its physiological susceptibility, and focus on the individual’s childhood experience and other psychosocial factors

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