Childhood Physical and Emotional Trauma and Personality Profiles among Students of Nasarawa State University, Keffi

Childhood trauma is increasingly recognized as an important developmental experience with potential implications for personality functioning beyond childhood. This study examined the association between childhood physical and emotional trauma and personality profiles among students of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted. The study involved 395 undergraduate students selected through stratified and simple random sampling from an estimated university population of 35,000 students. Data were collected using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF) and the 30-item Big Five Inventory-2 Short Form (BFI-2-S). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analyses of variance at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that childhood physical trauma had a significant multivariate association with the combined personality dimensions, Wilks' Λ = .079, F(105, 1808.94) = 11.75, p < .001, partial η² = .399. Physical trauma was significantly associated with extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness, with the strongest effect observed for openness. Childhood emotional trauma also demonstrated a significant multivariate association with the combined personality dimensions, Wilks' Λ = .032, F(70, 1794.21) = 27.05, p < .001, partial η² = .496. Emotional trauma was significantly associated with extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness, but not agreeableness, with neuroticism showing the strongest association. When physical and emotional trauma were examined jointly, both demonstrated significant multivariate effects on personality profiles, with emotional trauma showing a particularly strong association with neuroticism. The study concludes that childhood physical and emotional trauma are significantly associated with personality profiles among students of Nasarawa State University, Keffi. The findings underscore the importance of trauma-informed counselling, psychological screening, resilience-building interventions, and psychosocial support within university settings. Future research should examine protective factors and use longitudinal designs to clarify the temporal relationship between childhood trauma and personality development.

childhood trauma, physical trauma, emotional trauma, personality profiles, Big Five, university students, Nigeria

1. Adeosun, A. S., Fagbemi, T., & Alade, O. (2024). Prevalence and psychosocial correlates of childhood maltreatment among adolescents in Oyo State, Nigeria. Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 36(2), 155–166. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Afifi, T. O., Salmon, S., Garcés, I., Struck, S., Fortier, J., Taillieu, T., Stewart-Tufescu, A., Asmundson, G. J. G., Sareen, J., & MacMillan, H. L. (2020). Confirmatory factor analysis of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among a community-based sample of parents and adolescents. BMC pediatrics, 20(1), 178. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-020-02063-3 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Agbaje, O. S., Nnaji, C. P., Nwagu, E. N., Iweama, C. N., Umoke, P. C. I., Ozoemena, L. E., & Abba, C. C. (2021). Adverse childhood experiences and psychological distress among higher education students in Southeast Nigeria: an institutional-based cross-sectional study. Archives of Public Health, 79(1), 62. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-021-00587-3 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. N. (2015). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Psychology press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Akintola, A. A. (2025). Assessment Of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among In-School Adolescents in Lagos State. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Alnassar, J. S., Juruena, M. F., Macare, C., Perkins, A. M., & Young, A. H. (2024). Effect of childhood emotional abuse on depression and anxiety in adulthood is partially mediated by neuroticism: Evidence from a large online sample. Journal of affective disorders, 359, 158–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.05.040 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Bademos, A. D., Ige, O. A., & Ojo, G. M. (2025). Big Five Factors Influencing Secondary School Students’ Environmental Literacy in Ondo State, Nigeria. Journal of Empirical and Non-Empirical Research, 5(3), 80-82. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Beilharz, J. E., Paterson, M., Fatt, S., Wilson, C., Burton, A., Cvejic, E., & Vollmer-Conna, U. (2020). The impact of childhood trauma on psychosocial functioning and physical health in a non-clinical community sample of young adults. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 54(2), 185-194. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Bernstein, D. P., Fink, L., Handelsman, L., & Foote, J. (1998). Childhood trauma questionnaire. Assessment of family violence: A handbook for researchers and practitioners. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss v. 3 (Vol. 1). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. He, F., Yang, X., Luo, J., Wang, P., Yang, L., & Li, Z. (2024). The mediating role of neuroticism and anxiety sensitivity in the relationship between childhood trauma and panic disorder severity. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1441664. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. John, O. P., & Soto, C. J. (2021). The importance of being human: The Five-Factor Model and personality development. Annual Review of Psychology, 72, 515–548. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-072720-094916. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Koschig, M., Conrad, I., Berger, K., Baune, B. T., Grabe, H. J., Gerstorf, D., Meinke-Franze, C., Völzke, H., Mikolajczyk, R., Leitzmann, M., Fricke, J., Keil, T., Koch-Gallenkamp, L., Perna, L., Obi, N., Pabst, A., & Riedel-Heller, S. G. (2023). The mediating role of personality traits in the association between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms in young adulthood. Journal of affective disorders, 338, 373–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.06.027 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Li, E. T., Carracher, E., & Bird, T. (2020). Linking childhood emotional abuse and adult depressive symptoms: The role of mentalizing incapacity. Child abuse & neglect, 99, 104253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104253 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Madigan, S., Deneault, A. A., Racine, N., Park, J., Thiemann, R., Zhu, J., & Neville, R. D. (2023). Adverse childhood experiences: a meta‐analysis of prevalence and moderators among half a million adults in 206 studies. World psychiatry, 22(3), 463-471. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T., Jr. (2020). The Five-Factor Theory of personality. In O. P. John & R. W. Robins (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (4th ed., pp. 3–29). Guilford Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Okafor, C. A., & Ede, M. O. (2021). Adverse childhood experiences, psychological distress, and coping strategies among Nigerian university students. Nigerian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 5(1), 45–60. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Sampasa-Kanyinga, H., Nilsen, W., & Colman, I. (2018). Child abuse and work stress in adulthood: Evidence from a population-based study. Preventive medicine, 108, 60-66. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Sekoni, O. O., & Dania, O. M. (2024). Adverse childhood experiences and sexual risk behaviour in students of a tertiary institution in southwest Nigeria. Annals of Ibadan postgraduate medicine, 22(1), 39–46. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Shi, J., Li, W., Han, C., Han, J., & Pan, F. (2022). Mediating pathways of neuroticism and social anxiety in the relationship between childhood trauma and the fear of missing out among Chinese college students. Frontiers in psychiatry, 13, 933281. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.933281 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Shields, M., & Young, S. (2022). Emotional abuse in childhood and its long-term effects on personality and coping. Journal of Child Abuse & Neglect, 128, 105610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105610. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017). Short and extra-short forms of the Big Five Inventory–2: The BFI-2-S and BFI-2-XS. Journal of Research in Personality, 68, 69-81. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Verrastro, V., Cuzzocrea, F., Calaresi, D., & Saladino, V. (2024). Childhood Emotional Abuse, Neuroticism, Perfectionism, and Workaholism in an Italian Sample of Young Workers. Behavioral Sciences, 14(4), 298. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14040298 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Wang, D., Lu, S., Gao, W., Wei, Z., Duan, J., Hu, S., Huang, M., Xu, Y., & Li, L. (2018). The impacts of childhood trauma on psychosocial features in a Chinese sample of young adults. Psychiatry Investigation, 15(11), 1046–1052. https://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2018.09.26 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. World Health Organization. (2020). Adverse childhood experiences international questionnaire (ACE-IQ): User guide. WHO Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• A Comparative Study of Adjustment Level, Parental Income and Academic Achievement of Adolescent Girls
• Increase in STIs among Adolescents in Masvingo District
• A Correlation between SDG 4 (Quality Education) and Emotional Disposition of Teacher Educators in Hyderabad District
• Ear Piercing Behaviour and Self-Esteem among Male University Students in Nigeria
• A Study of Religiosity and Psychological Well-Being