Coping Strategies and Depression Among College Students Following Child Sexual Abuse in Turkey.

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between type of coping style and depression in college students with child sexual abuse experience. A total of 1,055 college students completed self-report measures to assess depressive symptoms, coping strategies, and child sexual abuse history. This study was conducted with a subset of 125 college students who reported that they had been sexually abused in childhood. They were divided into depressive and nondepressive groups according to their depressive symptoms. Data was collected with the Childhood Sexual Abuse Measurement, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Coping Styles of Stress Scale. Family characteristics were measured with a demographic questionnaire. Analyses involved multiple regression to test for predictive effects. Among college students with child sexual abuse histories, parental education level and both problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies significantly explained depression scores.