Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Association of Childhood Adversities with Depression and the Role of Resilience

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders 2017-01, Vol.208, p.577-581
• Main Authors: Youssef, Nagy A, Belew, Daniel, Hao, Guang, Wang, Xiaoling, Treiber, Frank A, Stefanek, Michael, Yassa, Mark, Boswell, Elizabeth, McCall, W. Vaughn, Su, Shaoyong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult Survivors of Child Adverse Events - psychology; Adverse childhood experiences; Black or African American; Child; Child Abuse - ethnology; Child Abuse - psychology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression - ethnology; Depression - etiology; Depressive symptoms; Female; Humans; Male; Psychiatry; Race/ethnicity; Resilience; Surveys and Questionnaires; White People; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0165-0327; 1573-2517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.10.024

Abstract Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) including childhood abuse and trauma increase depressive symptoms. The role of resilience and how it interacts with both ACEs and the potential development of depressive symptoms, including how race and ethnicity moderate these effects, are much less studied. The aims of this study were to examine: 1) whether there is a dose-response relationship between trauma and depressive symptoms; 2) whether early trauma affected European Americans (EA) and African Americans (AA) in a similar fashion; and 3) whether resilience mitigates the effect of trauma. Methods The present study comprised a cross-sectional study of subjects from a longitudinal cohort. All subjects were 19 years or older with traumatic experiences prior to age 18. Subjects were assessed for depressive symptoms as well as resilience. Results In 413 subjects enrolled, ACEs were significantly associated with depression severity in a dose-response fashion (p