The specific impacts of abuse adverse childhood experiences on repetitive negative thinking in major depressive...

Although research has linked adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and repetitive negative thinking (RNT) to the etiology of major depressive disorder (MDD), little differentiation between how ACE type relates to RNT has been carried out, nor is it known how RNT specifically impacts depression severity for those with MDD and ACEs.

This study sought to determine how abuse ACEs interact with RNT compared to non-abuse ACEs and to test how RNT associates with depression severity for individuals with MDD and ACEs.

Data were collected from 249 treatment-seeking adults with ACEs (72.29 % female; mean age = 26.01, SD = 8.15) who attended a community psychology clinic.

Mann-Whitney-U Tests were used to test how abuse ACEs interacted with endorsed RNT than those with non-abuse ACEs. Linear regressions were used to test if RNT was associated with MDD severity. Partial least squares analysis determined the individual predictive value of ACEs to depression severity.

Abuse ACEs were associated with higher RNT than neglect or household dysfunction ACEs (U = 8498, p = 0.014, r = 0.16). Additionally, RNT was positively correlated with depression severity for those with MDD and ACEs (β = 0.11, t(67) = 3.74, p < 0.001).

This study demonstrates the differential role of ACE type in influencing depression severity, indicating that abuse ACEs are more highly related to RNT than other ACEs. These results have implications on how MDD interventions can be applied for those exposed to ACEs, particularly for those who have experienced abuse ACEs.