The Role of Alexithymia and Moral Disengagement in Childhood Physical Abuse and Depressive Symptoms: A Comparative Study Among Rural and Urban Chinese College Students

There is robust evidence indicating the adverse association between childhood abuse and depressive symptoms. However, the ways in which childhood physical abuse is indirectly associated with adulthood depressive symptoms by alexithymia and moral disengagement remain poorly understood, particularly in the context of China. The present study aims to investigate how childhood physical abuse may be associated with depressive symptoms via the serial mediation effects of alexithymia and moral disengagement among college students in China.