The relationship between childhood trauma, doomscrolling, and dating violence among university students in Türkiye

BACKGROUND: Childhood trauma, dating violence, and doomscrolling are increasingly drawing attention as important factors associated with young adults’ psychological well-being and interpersonal functioning. This study was conducted to examine the relationships among childhood trauma, doomscrolling, and dating violence among university students in Türkiye, and to evaluate the role of dating violence in the association between childhood trauma and doomscrolling. METHOD: This descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational study was conducted with 502 university students in Türkiye between September 20 and November 20, 2025. Data were collected using the Personal Information Form, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-28), the Dating Violence Scale (DVS), and the Doomscrolling Scale–Turkish Form (DS-TF). Number, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used in data analysis; Pearson correlation analysis and simple linear regression analysis were used to examine the relationships among variables. PROCESS Model 4 was used for the mediation analysis. Ethics committee approval and institutional permission were obtained prior to the study. RESULTS: It was determined that 72.7% of the participants were female and 34.9% were first-year students. The mean total scores were 43.66 ± 15.32 for CTQ-28, 45.11 ± 18.28 for DVS, and 33.94 ± 18.39 for DS-TF. Statistically significant positive correlations were found between CTQ-28 and DVS (r = 0.571, p ≤ 0.001), between CTQ-28 and DS-TF (r = 0.454, p ≤ 0.001), and between DVS and DS-TF (r = 0.478, p ≤ 0.001). Regression analyses showed that childhood trauma significantly predicted dating violence (F = 241.325, p ≤ 0.001; R² = 0.326), dating violence significantly predicted doomscrolling (F = 147.698, p ≤ 0.001; R² = 0.228), and childhood trauma significantly predicted doomscrolling (F = 129.861, p ≤ 0.001; R² = 0.206). Mediation analysis revealed that dating violence partially mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and doomscrolling. CONCLUSION: Positive associations were found among childhood trauma, dating violence, and doomscrolling among university students in Türkiye. The findings support a significant indirect pathway through dating violence; however, causal interpretations are precluded by the cross-sectional design.