Effects of childhood trauma on resilience in early adulthood and its dynamic regulatory mechanisms: a four-year follow-up study

Objective To reveal the possible effects of childhood trauma on resilience in early adulthood and explore its mediating and moderating mechanisms. Methods A series of follow-up questionnaire surveys were conducted in 4 consecutive years from October 2016 (T1) to October 2019 (T4) among the undergraduates of a military university. The evaluation tools included Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Self-Description Scale, Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Social-Support Scale, Coping Style Questionnaire, Adolescent Self-Rating Life-events Checklist, and Beck Depression Inventory. The questionnaire scores were analyzed using correlation, regression and structural equation model. A total of 510 college students participated in the survey at T1, and 433 of them finished the whole 4-year investigation. Results ① Childhood trauma were negatively correlated with the resilience scores of the 4 successive years (r=-0.36~-0.12, P < 0.05). ② Regression analysis showed that childhood trauma, depression, extroversion, positive self-description, self-efficacy and cognitive flexibility played predictive roles in the resilience score (β=-0.22~0.34, P < 0.05). ③The total score of childhood trauma presented a direct negative predictive effect on resilience (β=-0.12, P < 0.001), and indirectly predicted resilience through mediators of extroversion, problem solving, positive self-description, self-efficacy and cognitive flexibility (indirect effect value -0.41, P < 0.001). ④The total score of childhood trauma exerted a stable negative effect on the score of resilience during T1, and a complete mediating effect during T2 and T4, and the delayed mediating effect during T1 and T4 stably affected the score of resilience in a negative model (effect value: -0.11~-0.05, P < 0.05). ⑤ Depression score had moderating effects in the comprehensive model as well as in the T3 instant model (Δχ2=36.45~23.58, ΔP < 0.01). Conclusion The total score of childhood trauma shows direct and negative predictive effect on the early-adulthood resilience, and has a continuously negative prediction through a mediation-moderate mechanism. The impacts of life events stress, as well as social support on resilience, have the characteristics of immediate and delayed time.