The influence of childhood abuse, adult stressful life events and temperaments on depressive symptoms in the nonclinical general adult population

Abstract Background Previous studies have shown the interaction between heredity and childhood stress or life events on the pathogenesis of major depression. We hypothesized that childhood abuse, affective temperaments, and adult stressful life events interact and influence depressive symptoms in the general adult population and tested this hypothesis in this study. Methods The 294 participants from the nonclinical general adult population were studied using the following self-administered questionnaire surveys: the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Life Experiences Survey (LES), Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A), and Child Abuse and Trauma Scale (CATS). The data were analyzed with single and multiple regressions and structural equation modeling (Amos 20.0). Results Childhood abuse indirectly predicted the severity of the depressive symptoms through affective temperaments measured by TEMPS-A in the structural equation modeling. Four temperaments – depressive, cyclothymic, irritable, and anxious – directly predicted the severity of depressive symptoms and the negative appraisal of life events during the past year. The negative appraisal of life events during the past year mildly, but significantly, predicted the severity of depressive symptoms. Limitations The subjects of this study were nonclinical. The findings might not be generalized to patients with mood disorders. Conclusions This study suggests that childhood abuse, especially neglect, indirectly increased depressive symptoms through increased affective temperaments, which, in turn, increase the negative appraisal of stressful life events. An important role of affective temperaments in the effect of childhood abuse and stressful life events on depressive symptoms was suggested.