(PS6-42) Ethnic Differences in the Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation and Perceived Social Support in the Association of Childhood Trauma and Adulthood Depression

The link between childhood trauma and adulthood psychopathology is well researched. However, the underlying mechanisms of this association are still being discovered. The literature shows that perceived social support and the two domains of emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression, may play a mediating role in the association between childhood trauma and adulthood depression. The current study tested if perceived social support and two domains of emotion regulation would independently mediate the relationship of childhood trauma and adulthood depression among four ethnic groups.   

Participants were undergraduate students recruited at five universities: 399 African Americans, 272 Asian Americans, 898 Hispanic Americans, and 698 non-Hispanic whites. Participants completed a questionnaire battery assessing adverse childhood experiences (ACE), depression (PHQ8), perceived social support (ISEL-12), and emotion regulation (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression) (ERQ) online. 

A mediation model was developed with ACE severity as the predictor, adulthood depression as the outcome, and perceived social support, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression as the mediators. The association between ACE and depression severity was partially mediated by perceived social support (p < .05), cognitive reappraisal (p < .05), and expressive suppression (p < .05) among Non-Hispanic Whites . Perceived social support (p < .05) and expressive suppression (p < .05) partially mediated the association between ACE and depression severity among African Americans. Similarly p</span>erceived social support (p < .05) and expressive suppression (p < .05) partially mediated the association in Hispanic Americans. Perceived social support was the only partial mediator for the association between ACE and depression severity among Asian Americans (p< .05).  

The mediating role of perceived social support was found in all ethnic groups, suggesting that strengthening social support may be a way to reduce adulthood depression experienced by victims of ACE regardless of their ethnic backgrounds. Strategies to foster the perception of social support could be a preventative strategy among youth and therapeutic strategy among adults. Expressive suppression was found as an important mediator in the model for the ethnic groups except the Asian American group. Encouraging expressive component of emotion regulation could similarly reduce the likelihood of depressive symptoms in adulthood among the three ethnic groups. The lack of a mediating role of expressive suppression may stem from a cultural norm among Asian cultures primarily due to their collectivistic roots. The mediating role of cognitive appraisal was not found for the minority groups. Overall, the hypothesized full model was supported only by the non-Hispanic White group, suggesting different mechanisms underlying the relationship between childhood trauma and adulthood depression across the ethnic groups. Previous research that provided the theoretical framework for this study lacked research on minority ethnic groups, indicating that the previous belief of ACE effect on cognitive reappraisal may only be significant among Non-Hispanic Whites.