The long arm of childhood: The prolonged influence of adverse childhood experiences on depression during middle and old age in China

Chen, Hao; Fan, Qiuyan; Nicholas, Stephen; Maitland, Elizabeth

doi:10.1177/13591053211037727

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 68 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our study has also extended the literature on the association between ACEs and subsequent risk of increasing depressive symptoms (e.g., [ 5 ]) and suicidal behavior (e.g., [ 46 ]). In addition to the prolonged adverse impact of ACEs during childhood on future adults’ mental health demonstrated in previous studies (e.g., [ 47 ]), adversities during childhood also showed immediate impact on children’s mental health. Furthermore, although verbal abuse and emotional neglect were more commonly labeled as a normal parenting practice in rural China, compared with physical and sexual abuse being treated as evident trauma, our study highlighted that these types of obscure or less evident childhood trauma demonstrated a severe impact on children’s mental health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

The Latent Class Analysis of Adverse Childhood Experiences among Chinese Children and Early Adolescents in Rural Areas and Their Association with Depression and Suicidal Ideation

Chen

Sun

Liu

et al. 2022

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is a global public health concern that is detrimental to the psychological outcomes of Chinese children in rural areas due to the lack of public awareness of ACEs and mental health resources. The objective of this study was to identify the patterns of ACEs and the impact of ACE patterns on depression and suicidal ideation among 4683 students (mean age = 10.08 years, SD = 0.99; 48.17% female students) from 63 elementary schools in rural areas in Guizhou Province, China. Latent class analysis was conducted to identify the best class pattern. A three-step approach was undertaken to explore the association between the class patterns and demographic covariates and depression and suicidal thoughts. An overall three-class pattern of ACEs was identified, which was: (1) high ACEs, (2) high verbal abuse and emotional neglect and low household dysfunction, and (3) low ACEs. The results also showed that children in the high ACEs class tended to show higher depression rates and more frequent suicidal ideation across the three groups. Being female and younger and having a lower socioeconomic status were risk factors. Our study identified a class pattern that was not found in previous research, which is high verbal abuse and emotional neglect and low household dysfunction.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

The Latent Class Analysis of Adverse Childhood Experiences among Chinese Children and Early Adolescents in Rural Areas and Their Association with Depression and Suicidal Ideation

Chen

Sun

Liu

et al. 2022

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The original ACE study demonstrated a strong dose-response relationship between ACE score and the probability of lifetime and recent depressive disorders [46]. Longitudinal results from China also demonstrate a significant dose-response relationship between ACEs and adult depression [47]. There is a paucity of literature documenting doseresponse associations between ACEs and anxiety, and none of the studies have been specific to MSM.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between Childhood Maltreatment and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Los Angeles

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with poor mental health outcomes in adulthood. Childhood maltreatment is related to both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Our objective was to investigate these associations among low-income, mostly Black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM), as these may be a particularly vulnerable population group. Data come from a longitudinal study of MSM with varied substance use behaviors (n = 321) collected between August 2014 and April 2022. Cumulative, childhood maltreatment ACEs, and the single ACE of childhood sexual abuse were investigated as potential predictors of self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms in mixed-effects logistic and ordinal regression models. There was no evidence of a dose-response relationship between the number of ACEs and the predicted probability of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Compared to MSM reporting fewer than five ACEs, those with five or more ACEs had approximately double the odds ratio of reporting depressive (OR = 1.93; 95% CI: 1.04–3.60) and anxiety symptoms (OR = 2.21; 95% CI: 1.05–4.68). The dimension of childhood maltreatment had a more robust prediction of depressive symptoms than the dimension of household dysfunction across all models. The association between childhood sexual abuse history and depressive symptoms remained after adjustment for the other nine ACEs (OR = 2.27; 95% CI: 1.11–4.68). The ordinal logistic model suggested that cumulative ACEs more than triple the odds of being in a higher anxiety category (OR = 3.12; 95% CI: 1.58–6.14), with associations reported for childhood maltreatment ACEs (OR = 1.31; 95% CI: 1.06–1.66) and childhood sexual abuse (OR = 1.93; 95% CI: 0.89–4.21). Childhood maltreatment ACEs, particularly childhood sexual abuse, are salient predictors of depressive and anxiety symptoms among adult urban MSM. Mitigating the impact of childhood maltreatment requires understanding the additional burden of social distress often faced by MSM throughout the life course.

show abstract

“…Second, the current study demonstrated that not all ACEs cause depression in adulthood and further illustrated that different ACEs have different outcomes. Although the ever-increasing literature indicates that ACEs may trigger mental health problems, such as depression [ 2 , 4 ], not all individuals who experience ACEs develop depression. Five ACEs (parental divorce, parental death, parental drug abuse, parental alcoholism, and parental crime) did not cause depression in adulthood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Substantial empirical evidence from multiple countries has demonstrated that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are highly correlated with depression in adulthood [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. For example, scholars have long believed that ACEs may enhance vulnerability to psychological development throughout the course of a person’s life, specifically depression [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. In addition, some meta-analyses confirm that a history of ACEs significantly increases the risk of depression and anxiety in adulthood [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Moderating Effect of Contact with Children on the Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Depression in Adulthood among a Chinese Adult Population

Zhao

Wang

2022

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on depression in adulthood has been identified in many studies; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To understand the moderating effect of ACEs on depression, a moderation analysis using the interaction effect model was performed based on data obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. This study found that people with ACEs had significantly lower depression scores than those without ACEs, particularly in categories such as physical abuse, emotional neglect, sibling death, parental illness/disability, parental depression, hunger, violence, and bullying. In addition, the results indicated that contact with children moderated the relationship between ACEs and depression in adulthood. Increased levels of contact with children reduced the adverse effects of parental drug abuse and the experience of starvation, but not physical abuse. This study highlights the role of family support in eliminating health disparities, which can reduce the effects of ACEs on depression in adulthood.

show abstract

The long arm of childhood: The prolonged influence of adverse childhood experiences on depression during middle and old age in China

Cited by 17 publications

References 68 publications

The Latent Class Analysis of Adverse Childhood Experiences among Chinese Children and Early Adolescents in Rural Areas and Their Association with Depression and Suicidal Ideation

The Latent Class Analysis of Adverse Childhood Experiences among Chinese Children and Early Adolescents in Rural Areas and Their Association with Depression and Suicidal Ideation

Association between Childhood Maltreatment and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Los Angeles

The Moderating Effect of Contact with Children on the Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Depression in Adulthood among a Chinese Adult Population

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About