Emotional instability and somatic symptoms explain the longitudinal link between childhood adversity and later motor impulsivity in college students

Previous literature has explored the associations among childhood adversity, emotional instability, and impulsivity in adulthood; however, somatic symptoms have rarely been examined simultaneously within this framework. The present study aimed to examine the predictive effect of childhood adversity on motor impulsivity among university students, as well as the mediating roles of both emotional instability and somatic symptoms. A convenience sampling method was used to survey 403 undergraduate students from a college in Western China in two waves, with a mean age of 19.90 years (SD = 1.48). Childhood adversity, motor impulsivity, and emotional instability were measured in April 2025, while somatic symptoms were assessed in December 2025. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the predictive effect of childhood adversity, as well as the mediating roles of emotional instability and somatic symptoms. Childhood adversity was directly associated with motor impulsivity (β = 0.201, p < 0.01) in college students when controlling for gender and household registration in the baseline model. Childhood adversity was indirectly associated with motor impulsivity via emotional instability (β = 0.071, p < 0.01) and somatic symptoms (β = 0.041, p < 0.05) in college students when controlling for gender and household registration in the overall model. Gender directly influenced motor impulsivity (β = -0.114, p < 0.05), while household registration predicted emotional instability (β =-0.205, p < 0.01) and somatic symptoms (β = -0.140, p < 0.01) in the overall model. Among college students, childhood adversity was found to significantly predict motor impulsivity, and both emotional instability and somatic symptoms acted as significant mediators in this longitudinal association.