%0 Journal Article %T Explaining how childhood physical abuse and physical neglect influence adult depression: An analysis with multiple sequential mediators. %A Zhang WB %A Jia FF %A Liu BP %A Li Q %A Jia CX %J Child Abuse Negl %V 152 %N 0 %D 2024 Jun 5 %M 38581769 %F 4.863 %R 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106771 %X BACKGROUND: Substantial evidence indicates that experiencing physical abuse and neglect during childhood significantly elevates the likelihood of developing depression in adulthood. Nevertheless, there remains a dearth of understanding regarding the mechanisms underpinning this correlation.
OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to examine the associations of childhood physical abuse and physical neglect with depression using follow-up data from UK Biobank and quantified the contribution of smoking, insomnia, and BMI in these associations.
METHODS: This study included 144,704 participants (64,168 men and 80,536 women) from UK Biobank, most of whom were white (97 %).
METHODS: Physical abuse and physical neglect were measured using two items of Childhood Trauma Screener (CTS). Data on the incidence of depression were obtained from primary care, hospital inpatient records, self-reported medical conditions, and death registries. We used a sequential mediation analysis based on the "g-formula" approach to explore the individual and joint effects of potential mediators.
RESULTS: The depression incidence rate was 1.85 per 1000 person-years for men and 2.83 per 1000 person-years for women, respectively. Results of Cox proportional risk regression showed that physical abuse (HRs: 1.39-1.53, P < 0.001) and physical neglect (HRs: 1.43-1.60, P < 0.001) are associated with depression. Smoking, insomnia, and BMI together mediated 3 %-26 % of the associations.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings contribute to our understanding of how physical abuse and physical neglect influence depression. Furthermore, a more effective reduction in the burden of depression can be achieved by managing modifiable mediators.