Adverse childhood experiences and depressive symptoms across adolescence and adulthood: A latent class analysis and...

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) greatly affect depression. The association between different patterns of ACEs and depressive symptoms might differ across age and gender.

The aim of the study was to identify patterns of ACEs and examine gender differences in the association between different patterns of ACEs and depressive symptoms across adolescence and emerging adulthood.

The study used data (N = 3342) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health.

We first used Latent Gold to identify the most suitable model. Then, dichotomous indicators of membership in each class (except for a reference class) were entered in the model as time-varying predictors to test the effect of class membership on depressive symptoms over age.

A 5-class model was identified: (1) Low ACEs, (2) Parental Alcohol Use and Divorce, (3) Violence, (4) Abuse and Neglect, and (5) Multiple ACEs. The association between Multiple ACEs classification and depressive symptoms was stronger for women than men at ages 23 and 27.5. The association between being in the Parental Alcohol Use and Divorce class and depressive symptoms was stronger for female participants than male participants between ages 13.5 and 16, and ages 23 and 30. Being in the Abuse and Neglect class was significantly associated with higher level of depressive symptoms for female, but not male, participants between ages 19 and 23.

Findings point to the need for further inquiries into the synergistic effects of early adversity and gender on the timing and persistence of depressive symptoms.