Childhood maltreatment, depressive implicit associations and depression symptoms in young adulthood

Abstract

ABSTRACT Childhood maltreatment (CM) has been associated with depression symptoms in adulthood; however, the links between CM and other depression-related constructs are insufficiently understood. This study tested whether CM was associated with depression symptoms as well as depressive implicit associations (IA). Young adults (N = 208; mean age = 19.7) completed self-report measures of CM and depression symptoms, and a computer-based behavioral task assessing depressive IA. CM was associated with depressive IA; furthermore, CM was related to depression symptoms above and beyond depressive IA. Both depression symptoms and depressive IA may uniquely contribute to the development of depression disorder in CM-exposed individuals.