Childhood abuse increases the risk of depressive and anxiety symptoms and history of suicidal behavior in Mexican pregnant women

Abstract

Objective: To explore the relationship between individual and co-occurring childhood sexual, physical, and verbal abuse, prenatal depressive (PDS) and anxiety symptoms (PAS), and history of suicidal behavior (HSB) among Mexican pregnant women at risk of depression. Methods: A sample of 357 women screened for PDS was interviewed using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA-Q), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), the anxiety subscale of the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (SCL-90), and specific questions on verbal abuse and HSB. Results: Logistic regression analyses showed that women who had experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA) were 2.60 times more likely to develop PDS, 2.58 times more likely to develop PAS, and 3.71 times more likely to have HSB. Childhood physical abuse (CPA) increased the risk of PAS (odds ratio [OR] = 2.51) and HSB (OR = 2.62), while childhood verbal abuse (CVA) increased PDS (OR = 1.92). Experiencing multiple abuses increased the risk of PDS (OR = 3.01), PAS (OR = 3.73), and HSB (OR = 13.73). Conclusions: Childhood sexual, physical, and verbal abuse, especially when they co-occur, have an impact on PDS and PAS and lifetime HSB. These findings suggest that pregnant women at risk for depression should also be screened for trauma as a risk factor for perinatal psychopathology.

Epidemiology of maternal depression, risk factors, and child outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries

“…For example, Lara et al, in their study of pregnant Mexican women, found that a history of sexual abuse in childhood was associated with a 2.49-fold increased odds of antepartum depression (OR=2.49; 95% CI: 1.86-4.61) even after adjusting for history of depression, poor partner relations, and low social support. 54 Further, Barrios et al recently reported that a history of sexual and physical abuse in childhood was associated with a 2.47-fold increased odds of antepartum depression (OR=2.47, 95% CI: 1.79-3.40) among Peruvian women. 51 Biological mechanisms underlying reported associations of child abuse with perinatal depression are thought to be related to disruptions of neurobiological stress response systems including the sympathetic nervous system, the serotonin system, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.…”

“…In addition to childhood abuse and abuse by intimate partner, maternal low educational attainment, 54,71 low socioeconomic status at the time of pregnancy, 54,71,72 lack of social support 73 and history of mental illness have been consistently identified as risk factors of antepartum and postpartum depression in the LAMICS. 74 For instance, Melo et al .…”

“…found that low maternal educational attainment was associated with more than 5-fold increased odds of postpartum depression among Mexican women (OR=5.61; 95% CI: 1.87-16.80). 54 Finally, few studies have reported culture-specific factors contributing to perinatal depression. In some Asian cultures, a gender bias exists where there is preference for a male first-born child.…”

Maternal depression does not affect complementary feeding indicators or stunting status of young children (6–23 months) in Northern Ghana

“…Among these studies the highest rate (27.8%) was reported for mothers in Northern Ghana [11] while lower rates were reported for southern Ghana (3.8–11.3%). This reflects the high socio-economic disparity between southern and northern Ghana [37] and the correlation between depression and low socio-economic status [38, 39]. …”

Mexican pregnant women show higher depression and anxiety with rising age and in the case of being single

“…The group of 50-59 years of age presented 50% of moderate depression. This fact points to the relevance of evaluating the age group of 20 to 29 years as an extreme risk group because it has the highest frequency of anxiety and depression during pregnancy.In a country with high indexes of violence against women, higher indexes of perinatal depression could be related with previous cases of physical abuse (26).…”