IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v22y2021i5d10.1007_s10902-020-00308-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Adverse Childhood Experiences Relate to Subjective Wellbeing in College Students: The Role of Resilience and Depression

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammedhamid Osman Kelifa

    (Wuhan University
    Orotta College of Medicine and Health Sciences)

  • Yinmei Yang

    (Wuhan University
    University of Massachusetts Medical School)

  • Herbert Carly

    (University of Massachusetts Medical School)

  • Wang Bo

    (University of Massachusetts Medical School)

  • Peigang Wang

    (Wuhan University)

Abstract

The enduring and detrimental impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on later health and wellbeing is now well established. However, research on the relationship between ACEs and subjective wellbeing, along with the potential risk and protective factors, is insufficient in the context of developing countries. The current study therefore, examined the mental health of young adults from a wellbeing perspective in a community emerging from a longstanding war. A national representative sample of college students was withdrawn from the Eritrean Institutions of Higher Education using a stratified systematic sampling (N = 507). Data regarding ACEs, resilience, depression symptoms, and subjective wellbeing were obtained through a direct administration of survey questionnaire. Mediation and moderation effects were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed that ACEs were negatively associated with resilience. In turn, resilience was correlated with lower depression and higher subjective wellbeing. ACEs had a positive association with depression, which in turn was negatively related to subjective wellbeing. Further, depression and resilience independently and jointly fully mediated the effect of ACEs on subjective wellbeing. Targeted interventions should be tailored to enhance resilience and prevent depression in this population.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammedhamid Osman Kelifa & Yinmei Yang & Herbert Carly & Wang Bo & Peigang Wang, 2021. "How Adverse Childhood Experiences Relate to Subjective Wellbeing in College Students: The Role of Resilience and Depression," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 2103-2123, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:22:y:2021:i:5:d:10.1007_s10902-020-00308-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-020-00308-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-020-00308-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-020-00308-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Akresh, Richard & Lucchetti, Leonardo & Thirumurthy, Harsha, 2012. "Wars and child health: Evidence from the Eritrean–Ethiopian conflict," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 330-340.
    2. Takashi Oshio & Maki Umeda & Norito Kawakami, 2013. "Childhood Adversity and Adulthood Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 843-860, June.
    3. Michelle Turner & Christina M. Scott-Young & Sarah Holdsworth, 2017. "Promoting wellbeing at university: the role of resilience for students of the built environment," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(11-12), pages 707-718, December.
    4. Ed Diener, 2006. "Guidelines for National Indicators of Subjective Well-Being and Ill-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 397-404, November.
    5. Ed Diener & Shigehiro Oishi & Louis Tay, 2018. "Advances in subjective well-being research," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 2(4), pages 253-260, April.
    6. Theron, Linda C. & Theron, Adam M.C., 2014. "Education services and resilience processes: Resilient Black South African students' experiences," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P3), pages 297-306.
    7. McLafferty, M. & Bunting, B.P. & Armour, C. & Lapsley, C. & Ennis, E. & Murray, E. & O'Neill, S.M., 2020. "The mediating role of emotion regulation strategies on psychopathology and suicidal behaviour following negative childhood experiences," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Le Yang & Jiarong Yuan & Huan Sun & Yidan Zhao & Jiajie Yu & Youping Li, 2023. "Influencing factors of depressive symptoms among undergraduates: A systematic review and meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(3), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Karen H. Larwin & Milton E. Harvey, 2025. "Effects of Personal Characteristics on Satisfaction with Life and Subjective Happiness: Estimates of Single Mediator Models Using SEM," Journal of Statistical and Econometric Methods, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 14(1), pages 1-2.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xiangdan Piao & Xinxin Ma & Shunsuke Managi, 2021. "Impact of the Intra-household Education Gap on Wives’ and Husbands’ Well-Being: Evidence from Cross-Country Microdata," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 111-136, July.
    2. Muhammad Bahrudin & Robert Markus Zaka Lawang, 2023. "Investigating the Mediating Role of Social Capital in the Influence of Job Satisfaction on Subjective Well-Being among Librarians in Java Island, Indonesia," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(6), pages 1288-1301, June.
    3. Prakarsh Singh & Olga N. Shemyakina, 2013. "Gender-Differential Effects of Conflict on Education: The Case of the 1981-1993 Punjab Insurgency," HiCN Working Papers 143, Households in Conflict Network.
    4. Andrea Bonanomi & Alessandro Rosina, 2022. "Employment Status and Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study on Young Italian People," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 581-598, June.
    5. Foliano, Francesca & Tonei, Valentina & Sevilla, Almudena, 2024. "Social restrictions, leisure and well-being," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    6. Ihsana Sabriani Borualogo & Ferran Casas, 2023. "Bullying Victimisation and Children’s Subjective Well-being: A Comparative Study in Seven Asian Countries," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(1), pages 1-27, February.
    7. Hendrik Jürges & Luca Stella & Sameh Hallaq & Alexandra Schwarz, 2022. "Cohort at risk: long-term consequences of conflict for child school achievement," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 1-43, January.
    8. Eric B. Schneider & Kota Ogasawara & Tim J. Cole, 2021. "Health Shocks, Recovery, and the First Thousand Days: The Effect of the Second World War on Height Growth in Japanese Children," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(4), pages 1075-1105, December.
    9. Benjamin Crost & Joseph H Felter, 2020. "Export Crops and Civil Conflict," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 1484-1520.
    10. Janet Currie & Tom Vogl, 2013. "Early-Life Health and Adult Circumstance in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 1-36, May.
    11. Eric W. Djimeu, 2014. "Does social action fund promote schooling in conflict affected countries? Mixed evidence from Angola," HiCN Working Papers 189, Households in Conflict Network.
    12. Habtamu Ali Beshir & Jean-François Maystadt, 2024. "Price Shocks and Human Capital: Timing Matters," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(4), pages 1567-1583.
    13. Aysun Aygun & Murat Guray Kirdar & Berna Tuncay, 2020. "The Effect of Hosting 3.4 Million Refugees on the Health System in Turkey and Infant, Child, and Elderly Mortality among Natives," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 2014, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    14. Miha Dominko & Miroslav Verbič, 2022. "The effect of subjective well‐being on consumption behavior," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 876-898, June.
    15. Hao Liu & Ying Chen & Lin Ma, 2023. "Is Urban Renewal with Campaign-Style Governance Characteristics Satisfying in China?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 561-579, November.
    16. Adesoji Adelaja & Justin George, 2021. "Food and Agricultural Security: An Introduction to the Special Issue," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-7, November.
    17. Ekaterina Oparina & Sorawoot Srisuma, 2022. "Analyzing Subjective Well-Being Data with Misclassification," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 730-743, April.
    18. Sarah Bridges & Douglas Scott, 2022. "Early Childhood Health During Conflict: The Legacy of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(4), pages 694-718, August.
    19. Ella Sargsyan, 2022. "Violent Conflicts and Child Gender Preferences of Parents: Evidence from Nigeria," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp723, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    20. Francesco Sarracino, 2014. "Richer in Money, Poorer in Relationships and Unhappy? Time Series Comparisons of Social Capital and Well-Being in Luxembourg," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 561-622, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:22:y:2021:i:5:d:10.1007_s10902-020-00308-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.