Childhood maltreatment and depression among emerging adults: Longitudinal mediation effects of making positive sense of adversity

Childhood maltreatment is known to be associated with depression in emerging adulthood, but the understanding of the underlying mechanisms is incomplete. In this 4-wave longitudinal study, we explored the developmental trajectory of depression and making positive sense of adversity (MPSA), and the longitudinal mediating role of MPSA on the effects of childhood maltreatment on emerging adulthood depression based on the Stress Process Model. Participants were 675 Chinese college students (63.9 % female, Mage = 19.53 years) who were followed over one and a half years. Tests of unconditional and multivariate latent growth models indicated that MPSA and depression tend to decrease over the study period; childhood maltreatment indirectly influenced the trajectory of depression by mediating MPSA rather than directly affecting emerging adults' depression. The initial value of MPSA fully mediated the relationship between initial values of childhood maltreatment and depression, while the mediating effect of the rate of change of MPSA was also significant, so the longitudinal mediation effects of MPSA are verified. These findings provide certain theoretical implications and potential applied value in designing interventions to promote positive adaptation for maltreated emerging adults.