Adverse Childhood Experiences Among University Student and The Relationship With Depression

Bagas Rahmatullah (Pancasila University)
Adellia Nurul (Pancasila University)
Channia Hasgat (Pancasila University)
Ginta Sellia Putri (Pancasila University)
Inggrid Nathania Tambunan (Pancasila University)
Siti Hawa Annisa Mantika (Pancasila University)
Andi Tenri Faradiba (Pancasila University)

People and Behavior Analysis (PBA)
Vol. 1 No. 1 (2023): March Volume

In a research conducted by Hillis et al. (2016), worldwide, 1 billion children aged 2-17 years experience ACE in various forms, such as sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Traumatic childhood experiences can potentially negatively affect health and well-being in the long term (Sacks, Murphey, and Moore, 2014). This research aims to determine the correlation between exposure to adverse childhood experiences and a tendency to depression. This study uses a quantitative approach with a statistical correlation test. There were 499 participants in this study with the ACE-IQ measuring instrument to measure the type of exposure to violence and the PHQ-9 to measure the level of depression. The statistical analysis showed a significant relationship between ACE and a tendency to depression with r=.43; p < .001. Therefore, based on the statistical analysis results using Pearson Correlation, we concluded a positive correlation between Adverse Childhood Experiences and a tendency to depression. However, this study still does not comprehensively explain the level of ACE exposure and depression regarding gender and age differences.