Childhood maltreatment and characteristics of adult depression: Meta-analysis

Abstract

Childhood maltreatment, especially emotional abuse and neglect, represents a risk factor for severe, early-onset, treatment-resistant depression with a chronic course.

Childhood Maltreatment in Women with Borderline Personality Disorder, Chronic Depression, and Episodic Depression, and in Healthy Controls

“…However, within the ED group, 63% reported CM and - in line with Klein et al [5] - we found no differences between CD and ED patients in any analysis. This is contradictory to other studies indicating higher rates of CM in CD than in ED [3,4]. Since more than half of the patients in the ED group were from outpatient studies and the BDI-II score was significantly lower in the ED than in the CD group, this could not mainly be a consequence of severity.…”

“…In line with this, a recent meta-analysis [3] showed that CM represents a risk factor for severe, early-onset, treatment-resistant depression with a chronic course. However, within the ED group, 63% reported CM and - in line with Klein et al [5] - we found no differences between CD and ED patients in any analysis.…”

“…Numerous studies report that CM is highly prevalent and constitutes a risk factor for mental disorders including major depression and borderline personality disorder (BPD) [1,2,3,4,5,6]. However, transdiagnostic studies investigating the occurrence of CM among mental disorders and comparing differences in severity, domains, and frequency of CM are rare and yielded contradictory results [2,3,4,5,6]. …”

What mediates the link between childhood maltreatment and depression? The role of emotion dysregulation, attachment, and attributional style

“…Importantly, the experience of CM not only increases the risk for developing a depressive disorder at all, but also predicts the severity and course of the disorder. Specifically, recent meta-analytic findings show that CM is associated with a more severe and/or chronic course of depression and reduced response to treatment (Nelson et al, in press). …”

“…It is associated with an increased risk for the development of different psychological problems, including major depressive disorder (MDD; Nelson, Klumparendt, Doebler, & Ehring, in press). …”