Abstract

Background: Childhood trauma has been associated with long-term neurophysiological alterations; however, evidence in non-clinical populations remains limited. This study investigated differences in brainwave activity between individuals with and without childhood trauma using quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) in a young adult non-clinical sample. Methods: Thirty young adults completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF) and underwent qEEG recording under standardized resting-state conditions, including eyes-closed (EC) and eyes-open (EO). Only resting-state EEG data were included in the final analysis. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied across seven frequency bands (Delta, Theta, Alpha, Low Beta, Beta, High Beta, and Gamma) for dimensionality reduction, followed by independent-sample t-tests to examine group differences between participants with no childhood trauma and those with severe childhood trauma. Results: Significant group differences were observed in several qEEG-derived components, particularly within the Alpha, Low Beta, Beta, High Beta, and Gamma frequency bands. These differences were most prominent in frontal, central, temporal, and parietal regions, suggesting variations in cortical activation patterns between trauma and non-trauma groups. Conclusions: The findings suggest that childhood trauma exposure is associated with distinct patterns of resting-state brainwave activity in young adults without a formal PTSD diagnosis. However, these results should be interpreted as exploratory, and further research with larger and more balanced samples is required to validate these findings and improve generalizability.

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