Childhood emotional neglect and depression in emerging adults: Exploring the roles of rumination and resilience

Abstract

Background: Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) is a highly prevalent subtype of child maltreatment and a significant factor contributing to psychiatric distress in emerging adulthood, particularly depression. Understanding how caregiver neglect raises psychiatric risk is critical. The purpose of this study is to examine the roles of resilience and rumination in the relationship between CEN and depression among Chinese emerging adults. Methods: Seven hundred and eighty-one Chinese emerging adults completed the questionnaire survey.The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Ruminative Responses Scale, and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale were used to assess childhood emotional neglect, depression, rumination and resilience, respectively. Results: Results showed that CEN was positively related to depression, mediated by rumination in emerging adulthood. Furthermore, resilience attenuated the link between rumination and depression, with lower resilience individuals having a stronger link. Resilience did not mitigate the CEN-rumination link or the direct CEN-depression association. Conclusions: The findings indicated that rumination mediated the relationship between depression and CEN, whereas resilience attenuated the effect of rumination on depression. This study enhances our comprehension of the mechanisms associated with depression risk and suggests a novel strategy for its prevention and treatment through a resilience framework.

Keywords

• Childhood emotional neglect
• Depression
• Rumination
• Resilience