Early life stress is associated with youth-onset depression for some
types of stress but not others

Date:
July 15, 2020
Source:
Elsevier
Summary:
Examining the association between eight different types of early
life stress (ELS) and youth-onset depression, a study reports
that individuals exposed to ELS were more likely to develop a
major depressive disorder (MDD) in childhood or adolescence than
individuals who had not been exposed to ELS.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, reports that individuals
exposed to early life stress (ELS) were more likely to develop a major depressive disorder (MDD) in childhood or adolescence than individuals
who had not been exposed to ELS.


========================================================================== Examining the association between eight different types of ELS and
youth-onset depression, the authors found that while some types of ELS
(e.g., poverty) were not associated with MDD, other types of stress,
including emotional abuse, were associated more strongly with MDD than
a broader assessment of ELS.

"Researchers have documented that early life stress increases the risk
for developing depression in adulthood. We wanted to know the degree to
which it was associated with depression earlier in life -- specifically
during childhood or adolescence," said lead author Joelle LeMoult,
PhD, a researcher at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
Canada. "Given that earlier onsets of depression often mean a more
recurrent course across the lifespan. We found that exposure to early
life stress more than doubled the likelihood someone will develop
youth-onset depression.

"These findings indicate that there is a narrow window between adversity
and depression during which we have the opportunity to intervene."
The findings are based on a meta-analysis of data from 62 journal articles
and over 44,000 unique participants. Studies that assessed early life
stress and the presence or absence of MDD before the age of 18 years
were also included.

Compared to youth who were not exposed to ELS, youth who were exposed
to ELS were 2.5 times more likely to develop MDD (OR=2.50; 95% CI
[2.08, 3.00]).

The authors also conducted eight additional meta-analyses to examine
the association between different types of ELS and a diagnosis of MDD
during childhood or adolescence. Sexual abuse, physical abuse, death of
a family member, domestic violence, and emotional abuse were associated
with significantly higher risk for youth-onset MDD; in contrast, poverty, illness/ injury, and exposure to a natural disaster were not.

Several variables moderated the association between ELS and youth-onset
MDD.

For example, studies that used interview-based assessments or included
larger sample sizes reported stronger associations between ELS and
depression.

Taken together, findings provide evidence that the adverse effects of
ELS on risk for MDD manifests early in development, before adulthood,
and varies by type of ELS. Further, findings support recommendations to
use best-practice methods in early life stress research.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Elsevier. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Joelle LeMoult, Kathryn L. Humphreys, Alison Tracy, Jennifer-Ashley
Hoffmeister, Eunice Ip, Ian H. Gotlib. Meta-analysis: Exposure
to Early Life Stress and Risk for Depression in Childhood and
Adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry, 2020; 59 (7): 842 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2019.10.011 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715142326.htm

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