Childhood trauma is an important risk factor for depressive symptoms, but the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship are not yet fully understood. The current study examined whether the vulnerable child schema (VC) mode and emotion regulation difficulties mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and the likelihood of reporting depressive symptoms.

Participants from the general population (N = 1,282) completed an online survey. Childhood trauma, depressive symptoms, the VC mode, and difficulties in emotion regulation were assessed. A parallel mediation analysis was conducted to examine the direct and indirect pathways in the proposed model.

Childhood trauma was associated with a higher likelihood of reporting depressive symptoms. In addition, both the VC mode and emotion regulation difficulties significantly mediated this relationship. The VC mode accounted for a larger proportion of the indirect effect, suggesting that schema-related vulnerability may be particularly relevant in this association. The findings should be interpreted with caution, given the limitations, but they suggest that both unmet emotional needs and difficulties managing emotions may be relevant processes to consider in relation to depressive symptoms following childhood trauma.