Childhood trauma and psychological resilience: the mediating role of rumination and core self-evaluation

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the possible pathway by which of rumination and core self-evaluation affects childhood trauma and psychological resilience. Methods 1200 college students were invited to participate in this study. They completed The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (SF-CTQ), Core Self-Evaluation Scale, The Event Related Rumination Inventory (ERRI), and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-S). Statistical analysis was conducted via SPSS 27.0 and SPSS PROCESS. Results The mediating effect of intrusive rumination between childhood trauma and resilience is not significant; active rumination and core self-evaluation have significant mediating effects between childhood trauma and resilience; intrusive rumination has a significant indirect effect between childhood trauma and resilience through proactive rumination; intrusive rumination has a significant indirect effect between childhood trauma and resilience through core self-evaluation; proactive rumination has a significant indirect effect between childhood trauma and resilience through core self-evaluation; intrusive rumination has a significant indirect effect between childhood trauma and resilience through active rumination. Conclusions This study focused on the unique resilience characteristics of college students in the early adulthood from the perspective of positive psychology, based on the resilience theory framework guided by the ecological system theory, and explores the impact mechanism of childhood trauma on resilience.