Abstract
This study examined childhood trauma and self-esteem among young adults in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, involving 400 young adults aged 17 to 40 years. Childhood trauma was measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, while self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, Tukey HSD post hoc analysis, and independent samples t-test at the .05 level of significance. The findings showed that childhood trauma had a significant effect on self-esteem, F(2, 397) = 19.32, p < .001, eta squared = .09. Participants with low trauma reported significantly higher self-esteem than those with moderate and high trauma exposure. Self-esteem also differed significantly by developmental stage and gender, while religious affiliation did not produce a significant difference. The study concluded that childhood trauma, developmental stage, and gender are relevant in understanding self-esteem among young adults in Abuja, and recommended trauma-informed counselling, self-esteem enhancement programmes, and gender-sensitive support.
Keywords: childhood trauma, self-esteem, young adults, early adulthood, Abuja, trauma-informed counselling
Author name(s):
Prof. Agatha Ogwo,
Damian Dibia Osa-Afiana,
Enitan Oyenuga
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23140312
Copyright © [2026] The Author(s). Published by the Journal of People and Worldviews (JPW). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited.