AUTHOR=Ji Shengkai , Chen Chen 

TITLE=Does childhood maltreatment influence Chinese preschool education college students’ depression and anxiety? Evidence from a latent class analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1341344

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1341344

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Preschool teachers' mental health may be a critical factor in their work performance, which may influence the quality of early childhood education. However, little is known about the development of preschool teachers' mental health. Childhood maltreatment, as a chronic childhood stress, may have influence on later mental health development. Although large extensive research has delineated childhood maltreatment and mental health, the associations between these two variables need further exploration. This study aims to delineate childhood maltreatment based on person-centered approaches in Chinese preschool education college students, and to examine the differences of depression and anxiety within subgroups of childhood maltreatment. A total of 1218 Chinese preschool education college students participated in this study, and data analysis was based on the unconditional and conditional latent class analysis. The results showed that the participants were divided into 5 profiles: a non-maltreatment profile; a profile of emotional abuse, emotional and physical neglect; a profile of physical neglect; a profile of emotional neglect; and a profile of physical and emotional neglect. Preschool education college students with multiple subtypes of maltreatment had the highest levels of depression and anxiety. Universities should consider childhood maltreatment as well as profiles of childhood maltreatment when training preschool education college students.