Abstract
Experience of childhood maltreatment is a major factor affecting adult mental health. The purpose of this study was to understand the association of childhood psychological abuse and neglect with mental health in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire survey was conducted from February 21 to March 12, 2020. The participants were 200 students at a university of physical education in Shaanxi Province, China. Participants completed the Child Psychological Abuse and Neglect Scale and the Mental Health Self-Report Questionnaire. Regarding childhood maltreatment experience, 52.5% of respondents screened positive for childhood psychological abuse, 55.8% for psychological neglect, and 43.6% for both. Moreover, 37.6% of participants screened positive for psychological health problems during the pandemic. Childhood psychological abuse and neglect were positively associated with mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. A regression analysis revealed that the reproving dimension of psychological abuse was a risk factor for mental health problems in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
To stop the spread of COVID-19, most of the world’s governments, including that of China, adopted unprecedented social isolation measures, such as lockdowns, minimizing outings, social distancing, and canceling or minimizing meetings [1]
Based on the above theories and empirical research, we proposed the following two hypotheses: [1] Childhood abuse and neglect are positively correlated with mental health problems during the epidemic; [2] Psychological abuse and neglect can predict the incidence of psychological problems during the epidemic
According to the SRQ-20 scores, 68 (37.6%) of respondents screened positive for psychological problems during the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
To stop the spread of COVID-19, most of the world’s governments, including that of China, adopted unprecedented social isolation measures, such as lockdowns, minimizing outings, social distancing, and canceling or minimizing meetings [1]. The vast majority of colleges and universities have adopted measures, such as online learning and tutors to guide classes remotely, psychological interventions to popularize epidemic knowledge, and other measures to relieve students’ psychological pressure and maintain a normal school life [4], many students have experienced varying degrees of psychological problems after the resumption of school [5]. This has seriously affected the physical and mental health of college students. It is especially important to identify factors that might exacerbate college students’ psychological problems in response to stressful events, such as childhood maltreatment
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