Adult mood disorders and childhood psychological trauma

Abstract

To evaluate the association between adult mood disorders and childhood psychological trauma in a developing country. Adults with and without mood disorders were assessed in a case-control study using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Assessment of childhood trauma included physical and sexual abuse, frequent exposure to violence, and parental loss. In two independent multivariate analyses, after adjusting for potential confounding factors, we found a higher odds ratio for frequent exposure to violence in the community (p = .037) and for physical abuse by parents or caregivers during childhood/adolescence (p = .012) in the group with mood disorders than in the control group. In secondary analyses splitting the mood disorder group in two subgroups (manic episode, and major depressive episodes/ dysthymia), only manic patients showed significantly higher rates of frequent exposure to violence in the community (p = 0.01) and physical abuse during childhood (p = 0.02) than did patients in the control group. In addition, maniac patients had significantly higher rates of sexual abuse than did controls (p = .03). Our findings document an association between violence during childhood and adult mood disorders, especially for manic patients, in a developing country.