Childhood Trauma, Resilience and Psychological Distress in Adults

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between childhood trauma, resilience, and psychological distress in adults. The study used a cross-sectional survey research design It was hypothesized that there would be a positive relationship between childhood trauma and psychological distress. It was hypothesized that there would be a negative relationship between resilience and psychological distress. Further, resilience was expected to mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and psychological distress. The sample of 120 adults of years 18-25 (M = 21.30, SD = 1.58) was taken from different universities of Lahore, Pakistan. Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Short Form (Bernstein & Fink, 1998). Brief Resilience Scale (Smith et al., 2019) and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (Kessler, 2001) were used for data collection. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 26.0. Process by Hayes (2013) was used to analyze the mediating role of resilience between childhood trauma and psychological distress. Results indicated that childhood trauma was positively related to psychological distress. Resilience was negatively related to childhood trauma and psychological distress. Moreover, resilience mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and psychological distress. This study would help social workers, psychotherapists, and psychological counselors to deal with the psychological discomfort of adults who have had traumatic childhood experiences.