Early life family disadvantages and major depression in adulthood

Abstract

BackgroundThere is evidence that exposure to social and family disadvantages in childhood are a risk factor for adult depression.AimsTo explore the effects of multiple adversity in early childhood on adult depression, and the relative effects of the different adversities.MethodThis study utilises data from the Newcastle Thousand Family Study. Information on childhood disadvantages was collected when the participants were 5 years old, and information on mental health was gathered when they were 33 years old. Mental health data were scrutinised blind to the evidence of early disadvantage, and best-estimate diagnoses of major depressive disorder were made according to DSM–III–R criteria.ResultsMultiple family disadvantages in childhood substantially increase the risk of suffering a major depressive disorder in adulthood. Such disadvantages include family or marital relationship instability, a combination of poor mothering and poor physical care, and a combination of dependence on social welfare and overcrowding. For females major depression was linked in particular to the quality of parenting in early life.ConclusionsSocial and family (especially multiple family) disadvantages during childhood predispose individuals to an increased risk of major depression in adulthood.