Impact of Multi-Type Childhood Abuse on Psychological Development and Coping Strategies among Perdana University Students

ABSTRACT

@#Introduction: Childhood abuse is a worrisome societal issue as it becomes largely prevalent worldwide, with associated mental and behavioural consequences on the victims. Cases of child violence, mostly owing to its heavy stigma, are seldom recorded. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of multi-type childhood abuse (physical, emotional, sexual abuse, and neglect), its relation to victims’ psychological development and coping strategies utilized by them. Methods: The study was conducted on 121 participants from Perdana University using self-administered questionnaire. Results: Emotional abuse was a recurrent form of abuse (43.8%) experienced by young adults in Perdana University, followed by physical abuse (15.7%), neglect (6.6%) and sexual abuse (2.5%). Hence, leading to significant negative effects on the victims’ psychological status. Majority of the participants had a Normal scale of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), followed by a Moderate scale of DASS. Neglect and maltreatment predominantly contributed to participants’ depression (rs=0.313), anxiety (rs=0.378) and stress (rs=0.382) levels. Abused victims commonly utilized the method of disengagement, specifically emotion-focused disengagement coping strategy (99.2%). Conclusion: Screening of students’ mental health pre-enrolment and throughout years of university studies aids in early intervention and support such as counselling services to alleviate stress and develop positive coping skills. Execution of mentorship programmes fosters quality relationships and fashions comfortability for students to disclose any psychological trauma or abuse experience, plus requires regular revision to strengthen its implementation. Effective policies should be developed and enforced by child protection bodies and law enforcement agencies to impede childhood abuse and its influence among young adults.