Effect of childhood adversity experiences, psychological distress, and resilience on depressive symptoms among Indonesian university students

Abstract

This study examined the role of childhood adversity experiences, psychological distress and resilience on depressive symptoms. The sample consisted of 443 Indonesian university students. Participants’ age range from 17 to 21 (M = 18.60, SD = 0.61). Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) were used to guide data collection. Path analysis results revealed the direct relationship between the childhood traumas with depressive symptoms and, had no direct relationship on resilience. In addition, resilience partially mediates the relationship between adolescents’ psychological distress and depressive symptoms but not to childhood trauma and depressive symptoms. These results indicate the importance of the influence of resilience and the importance of the development of university based programs aimed to promote resilience among Indonesian university students.