RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: College students who are depressed as a direct or indirect effect of childhood trauma are at risk of suicide. Although forgiveness buffers mental health problems, there are inconsistencies in the results according to the object of forgiveness. This study aimed to examine the role of forgiveness, both as a mediator and as a moderator, for the association between childhood trauma and depression among university students. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: The sample comprised 398 students from a university in Semarang, Indonesia (M = 18.60, SD = 0.60, male = 26.1%) obtained through cluster random sampling. Measurements used were the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Forgiveness Scale which contained the dimensions of self, others, and situations. RESULTS: The path analysis and the investigation of CI result showed that forgiveness mediated the relationship between ACEs and depression. Forgiveness of self and situations were also mediating, but not forgiveness of others. On the other hand, the moderating effect only applied to the forgiveness of others, the effect of which increased positively when the level was high. CONCLUSIONS: The result of this study indicates how the addition of ACEs affects lower level of forgiveness, thus explaining the higher level of depression among college students. Only forgiveness of others among the dimensions of forgiveness is not determined by the number of ACEs, but its increase determines the addition of depression level when there are more ACEs. The discussions highlight the mechanism of each dimension, contribution of collectivistic culture, different types of ACEs and limited incidence of ACEs among the general college student population.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Self-compassion has been considered beneficial in overcoming negative self-assessment due to inadequate coping that increases vulnerability to significant distress among undergraduate students in emerging adulthood. METHODS: Subjects were 552 Indonesian undergraduate students from Diponegoro University, Indonesia (MAge = 20.03; SDAge = 1,022). Sex and age category were identified for further analysis. The measurements used the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) and General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). The GHQ-12 also measures psychological morbidity in three dimensions, i.e. social dysfunction, anxiety and depression symptoms, and loss of confidence. Data were analyzed using Spearman's rho. Additional analyzes using the Mann-Whitney U Test and descriptive statistics were also performed. RESULTS: Self-compassion had a significant negative relation with distress. Self-compassion was significantly related to all dimensions of distress, i.e. loss of confidence, anxiety and depression symptoms, and social dysfunction (from largest to smallest respectively). The correlation between self-compassion and distress in men was higher than women, both were significant. The correlation between those two constructs in late adolescence and early adulthood were also significant. Both sex and age did not significantly predict self-compassion and distress. CONCLUSION: The existence of self-compassion could predict a lower level of distress both in general and based on its dimensions, as well as correlations based on sex and age categories. A higher correlation in men may be of concern, while the absence of a marked difference in the correlation by age category could be due to the effect of small age variation in both age categories that was still in the emerging adult period. This was also supported by a non-significant difference of each variable across sex and age category. Discussions based on cultural values were also considered.