Indirect effects of psychiatric symptoms on the association between childhood trauma and motivation orientation.

OBJECTIVE: Childhood trauma has been linked to motivational dysregulation in both clinical and nonclinical populations, leading to poorer overall functioning and reduced response to treatments. Additionally, even in community samples, childhood trauma is linked with various psychiatric symptoms known to further influence motivational processes, such as depression, anxiety, perceived stress, and anhedonia. The present study examines the role of these psychiatric symptoms in the relationship between childhood trauma and motivational tendencies (i.e., motivation orientations) in a sample of undergraduate students. METHOD: Undergraduate students (N = 1,729) completed a series of self-report questionnaires, including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the General Causality Orientation Scale-Clinical Populations, which assesses intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation orientations. Three multiple mediation models estimated the effect of childhood trauma on each motivation orientation through the simultaneous indirect effects of various psychiatric symptoms (depression, anxiety, anhedonia, perceived stress). RESULTS: Childhood trauma was associated with lower intrinsic motivation and greater extrinsic motivation through the indirect effects of perceived stress (95% CI [-0.046, -0.016] and 95% CI [0.003, 0.016], respectively) and anhedonia (95% CI [-0.054, -0.030] and 95% CI [-0.008, -0.016], respectively). In addition, childhood trauma was associated with greater amotivation through the effects of depression (95% CI [0.018, 0.055]) and anxiety (95% CI [0.009, 0.038]) symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight differential symptom and affective factors that contribute to the associations between childhood trauma and motivation orientation in young adulthood, supporting targeted interventions for individuals who have experienced childhood trauma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).