Effect of childhood trauma on depressive symptoms in college students: the mediating role of depletion sensitivity and the moderating role of self-control / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the effects of childhood trauma on depression of college students and the role of depletion sensitivity and self-control in it.Methods:A total of 1 678 freshmen and sophomores from a medical university in Guangzhou were investigated by childhood trauma questionnaire(CTQ), Beck depression inventory-Ⅱ(BDI-Ⅱ), depletion sensitivity scale(DSS) and self-control scale(SCS) through random cluster sampling. The mediating effect of depletion sensitivity and moderating effect of self-control were examined by SPSS 26.0 macro program PROCESS V2.13.Results:(1)The total scores of CTQ and BDI-Ⅱ in college students were (34.56±7.03) and ( M( QR) 5.00(7.00)) respectively, and the scores of DSS and SCS were (41.78±12.21) and (40.02±8.15) respectively. (2)Childhood trauma was positively correlated with depletion sensitivity ( r= 0.20, P<0.01) and depletion sensitivity was positively correlated with depressive symptoms ( r=0.48, P<0.01). There was a negative correlation between self-control and depressive symptoms ( r=-0.49, P<0.01). (3)Depletion sensitivity partly mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms. The direct effect (effect size=0.28) and mediating effect (effect size=0.07) accounted for 80% and 20% of the total effect (effect size=0.35), respectively. (4)Self-control moderated the path between depletion sensitivity and depressive symptoms. Conclusion:Childhood trauma can indirectly affect college students′ depressive symptoms through depletion sensitivity, and the partial mediatory role of depletion sensitivity is also moderated by self-control.