Psychiatry Research EG

Background A strong association is believed to exist between stressful life events and development of depressive disorders. Childhood adverse experiences contribute to a person’s vulnerability to such disorders. The complex interplay between these variables needs further investigation. Objectives The objective of the present study was to clarify the impact of child abuse and recent stressful life events on patients with depressive disorders. Patients and methods A total of 75 patients with depressive disorders not having a comorbid mental illness were studied using the Social Readjustment Rating Scale of Holmes and Rahe and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Results The mean age of our patients was 34.96±12.32 years, 69.3% of them were females, and the duration of illness ranged from 2 to 288 weeks with a mean of 30.94±54.61; 36% of the sample had severe depression. There was a statistically significant relationship between urban residence and magnitude of stress (P=0.049); married patients suffered less severe depression compared with unmarried ones (P=0.02). A positive and significant correlation was found between magnitude of stress and severity of depression (P≤0.001). Duration of depressive illness was positively and significantly correlated with the raw score of Social Readjustment Rating Scale and with the severity of emotional neglect as measured by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (P=0.02 and 0.04, respectively). Conclusion The development of depression in adulthood is significantly associated with past exposure to child abuse and stressful life events. Childhood history of emotional neglect and magnitude of preonset stress may be contributing factors to the duration of depressive illness. Keywords: child abuse, depression, life events, stress