The mediating effects of childhood neglect on the association between schizotypal and autistic personality traits and depression in a non-clinical sample

Jianbo Liu,Jingbo Gong,Yanmei Shen,Xuerong Luo,Guanghui Nie,Yuqiong He,Bo Xiao

doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1510-0

Abstract

BackgroundAutistic personality traits (APT) and schizotypal personality traits (SPT) are associated with depression. However, mediating factors within these relationships have not yet been explored. Thus, the focus of the current study was to examine the effects of childhood neglect on the relationship between APT/SPT and depression.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on first-year students (N = 2469) at Hunan University of Chinese Medicine and Hengyang Normal College (Changsha, China). Participants completed surveys on APT, SPT, childhood neglect, abuse and depression.ResultsThrough correlational analyses, APT and SPT traits were positively correlated with childhood neglect and depression (p < 0.05). In a hierarchical regression analysis, among types of childhood maltreatment, emotional neglect (β = 0.112, p < 0.001) and physical neglect (β = 0.105, p < 0.001) were the strongest predictors of depression. Childhood neglect did not account for the relationships between APT/SPT and depression. Further analysis found that childhood neglect mediated the relationship between SPT and depression but not APT and depression.ConclusionsAmong types of childhood maltreatment, neglect was the strongest predicting factor for depression. Neglect did not account for the relationship between APT/SPT and depression but was a strong mediating factor between SPT and depression.

Highlights

Autistic personality traits (APT) and schizotypal personality traits (SPT) are associated with depression
Prior research has shown that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and spectrum disorder (SPD) are both correlated with dysregulation of the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which may be linked to depression [5, 6]
Descriptive statistics and correlation Correlation analyses found that Autism spectrum quotient (AQ) total, Schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ) total, abuse and neglect were positively related to depression, and that AQ total and SPQ total were positively related to neglect and abuse (p < 0.01) (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Autistic personality traits (APT) and schizotypal personality traits (SPT) are associated with depression. The focus of the current study was to examine the effects of childhood neglect on the relationship between APT/SPT and depression. Depression has been reported as the highest comorbid symptoms with ASD [3]. Matson et al [3] reported that 30% of those diagnosed with ASD are diagnosed with depression [4]. Some genes associated with an increased risk of SPD and APD increase the risk of suffering from depression. MTHFR gene C667T polymorphism increases the risk of autism [7] and increases the risk of depression [8]. The COMT gene rs4680 increases the risk of SPD [9] and increases the risk of depression [10]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion