Profile and mental health characterization of childhood overprotection/overcontrol experiences among Chinese university students: a nationwide survey

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Psychiatry

Dongsheng Lv¹  Miaoyu Yu²  Hong Tang³  Xiaojun Huang⁴  Min Chen⁵  Guangcheng Cui⁶  Cuixia An⁷  Haojuan Tao⁸  Yicheng Long⁸  Zhipeng Wu⁸  Jiamei Zhang⁸  Zhening Liu⁸  Meng Sun⁹  Liang Zhou⁹  Qizhong Yi^1,10 

[1] Department of Mental Health Institute of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, The Affiliated Mental Center of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China;Department of Mental Health, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China;Department of Psychiatry, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China;Department of Psychiatry, Jiangxi Provincial People’s Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang Medical College, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China;Department of Psychiatry, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong, China;Department of Psychiatry, Qiqihar Medical University, Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, China;Department of Psychiatry, The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China;Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China;National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China;Department of Social Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China;Xinjiang Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Psychological Medicine Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China;

关键词: childhood trauma;    overprotection;    overcontrol;    mental health;    depression;    psychotic-like experience;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1238254

 received in 2023-06-11, accepted in 2023-09-15,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionThe childhood experiences of being overprotected and overcontrolled by family members have been suggested to be potentially traumatic. However, the possible associated factors of these experiences among young people are still not well studied. This study aimed to partly fill such gaps by a relatively large, nationwide survey of Chinese university students.MethodsA total of 5,823 university students across nine different provinces in China were included by the convenience sampling method in the data analyses. All participants completed the overprotection/overcontrol (OP/OC) subscale in a recently developed 33-item childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ- 33). Data were also collected on all participants’ socio-demographic profiles and characterization of mental health. Binary logistic regression was conducted to investigate the associated socio-demographic and psychological factors of OP/ OC.ResultsThe prevalence of childhood OP/OC was estimated as 15.63% (910/5,823) based on a cutoff OP/OC subscale score of  ≥ 13. Binary logistic regression suggested that being male, being a single child, having depression, having psychotic-like experiences, lower family functioning, and lower psychological resilience were independently associated with childhood OP/OC experiences (all corrected-p < 0.05). The OP/OC was also positively associated with all the other trauma subtypes (abuses and neglects) in the CTQ-33, while there are both shared and unique associated factors between the OP/OC and other trauma subtypes. Post-hoc analyses suggested that OP/OC experiences were associated with depression in only females and associated with anxiety in only males.DiscussionOur results may provide initial evidence that childhood OP/OC experiences would have negative effects on young people’s mental health which merits further investigations, especially in clinical populations.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Zhang, Wu, Tao, Chen, Yu, Zhou, Sun, Lv, Cui, Yi, Tang, An, Liu, Huang and Long.