Childhood social adversity and risk of depressive symptoms in adolescence in a US national sample

Abstract

Objective Childhood social adversity has been associated with an increased risk of depression and other psychiatric disorders in adolescence and early adulthood. However, the role of timing and accumulation of adversities has not yet been established in longitudinal studies. We examined the association between childhood adversities and adolescent depressive symptoms, and the impact of timing and accumulation of adversity. Method Longitudinal data were obtained from the Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (n=2223), a nationally representative survey of US families that incorporates data from parents and their children. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to estimate effects of childhood social adversity on adolescent depressive symptoms, presented as Incidence Rate Ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Results Children exposed to social adversity reported higher levels of adolescent depressive symptoms captured by two depression scales. Single-parent household and residential instability were particularly associated with depressive symptoms. A positive relationship was found between cumulative adversity and the risk of adolescent depression. The timing of exposure appeared to have little effect on the risk of adolescent depressive symptoms. Limitations The structure of the data implies that alternative causal pathways cannot be fully discounted. The self- or parent-reported data is subject to recall bias. Conclusion Our findings support the long-term negative impact of childhood adversity on adolescent depressive symptoms, regardless of when in childhood the adversity occurs. Policies and interventions to reduce adolescent depressive symptoms need to consider the social background of the family as an important risk or protective factor.

Trajectories of childhood adversity and the risk of depression in young adulthood: Results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

“…Like previous studies of childhood adversity in population-based samples (Björkenstam et al, 2017;Mersky et al, 2013;Perales et al, 2013;St Clair et al, 2015), although many of our study participants reported low levels of adversity throughout childhood, more than one-third experienced mild levels and about one-sixth were exposed to moderate or higher levels of adversity at some time during childhood. Like previous studies of childhood adversity in population-based samples (Björkenstam et al, 2017;Mersky et al, 2013;Perales et al, 2013;St Clair et al, 2015), although many of our study participants reported low levels of adversity throughout childhood, more than one-third experienced mild levels and about one-sixth were exposed to moderate or higher levels of adversity at some time during childhood.…”

“…Young adults in the trajectory groups characterized by moderate levels of adversity at one or more time points (i.e., the increasing, decreasing, and stable-high groups) experienced more adverse depression outcomes than those with consistently low levels of adversity throughout childhood, reflecting the well-established association between childhood adversity and poorer mental health (Benjet et al, 2010;Björkenstam et al, 2017;Dunn et al, 2017Dunn et al, , 2018Gilman et al, 2003;Mersky et al, 2013;Oldehinkel & Ormel, 2015;Schilling et al, 2007Schilling et al, , 2008. These F I G U R E 3 Trajectories of adversity from birth through age 11.5 years (n = 9,665) findings highlight the importance of considering adverse exposures at multiple time points throughout childhood to capture the potential for health risks as a result of childhood circumstances.…”

“…Because childhood adversities tend to cluster together, measures of "cumulative adversity" are often derived as counts of events occurring during a specified time period (Atkinson et al, 2015;Evans, Li, & Whipple, 2013;Raposa, Hammen, Brennan, O'Callaghan, & Najman, 2014;Turner & Lloyd, 1995), with greater numbers of events associated with greater severity of mental health problems (Björkenstam et al, 2017;Chapman et al, 2004;Edwards, Holden, Felitti, & Anda, 2003;Fergusson, Woodward, & Horwood, 2000;Mersky et al, 2013;Schilling et al, 2007). However, many studies of cumulative adversity rely on retrospective self-reports of childhood events and circumstances (Benjet et al, 2010;Lloyd & Turner, 2008;Whitesell et al, 2007), use simple counts of dichotomized items (Slopen, Koenen, & Kubzansky, 2014;Slopen, Kubzansky, McLaughlin, & Koenen, 2013), and fail to account for the timing or persistence of adversity throughout childhood (Appleton, Holdsworth, Ryan, & Tracy, 2017;Slopen et al, 2014) when examining its effects on health later in life.…”

“…Childhood adversity, including maltreatment, financial hardship, and parental separation, is reported by more than half of many adult populations (Felitti et al, 1998;Green et al, 2010). Evidence from numerous studies has illustrated the negative consequences of childhood adversity (Brown et al, 2009;Chartier, Walker, & Naimark, 2010;Felitti et al, 1998;Green et al, 2010), including increased risk for mental health problems in adolescence and adulthood (Benjet, Borges, & Medina-Mora, 2010;Björkenstam, Pebley, Burström, & Kosidou, 2017;Gilman, Kawachi, Fitzmaurice, & Buka, 2003;Mersky, Topitzes, & Reynolds, 2013;Schilling, Aseltine, & Gore, 2007.…”

Parental‐perceived neighborhood characteristics and adolescent depressive symptoms: A multilevel moderation analysis

“…Among a representative sample of adolescents in Seattle, Washington, family annual income was only found to be significantly associated with adolescent depressive symptoms for those with low family income after controlling for life events within the past 6 months and no longer significant after adjusting for family environment (Tracy, Zimmerman, Galea, McCauley, & Vander Stoep, ). In a longitudinal study conducted across the United States on children 0–18 years old, family poverty at any period of development was not associated with increased odds of internalizing index scores or depression after controlling for all covariates (Björkestam, Pebley, Burström, & Kosidou, ). This is consistent with our finding that family income does not have as much bearing on depressive symptoms among adolescents as neighborhood poverty, especially if the adolescent lives in a poor neighborhood.…”