THE ROLE OF SELF-EFFICACY IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND ANXIETY

Traumatic childhood experiences (physical abuse and neglect, emotional abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse) have surprisingly high incidence rates and predict to a variety of negative health outcomes, such as anxiety. Although the relationship between childhood trauma and anxiety has been well documented, more research is necessary in order to understand the mechanisms underlying this relationship. The current study hypothesized that academic self-efficacy, the perception that one has the ability to achieve one’s desired outcomes in academic endeavors, would mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and anxiety in a sample of college students (n=204). Furthermore, it was hypothesized that gender would moderate the relationship between childhood trauma and anxiety. The current study analyzed emotional abuse (EA), emotional neglect (EN) and physical neglect (PN) separately. Results indicated that although EA, EN, and PN were significant predictors of academic self-efficacy, academic self-efficacy was not a significant predictor of anxiety; therefore, academic self-efficacy did not serve as a mediator for the relationship between childhood trauma and anxiety. Additionally, findings revealed that gender did not moderate the relationship between childhood trauma and anxiety. Limitations of the current study as well as future directions are discussed