This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Pediatrics  • Child Abuse  • Violence and Human Rights  • Violence and Human Rights, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Cathy Spatz Widom, PhD; Kimberly DuMont, PhD; Sally J. Czaja, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007;64(1):49-56.

Context  Few prospective longitudinal studies have examined the relationship between abuse or neglect in childhood and depression in adulthood.

Objective  To determine whether abused and neglected children were at elevated risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) and psychiatric comorbidity, compared with matched control subjects, when followed up into young adulthood.

Design  Prospective cohort design study.

Setting  Midwestern metropolitan county area.

Participants  Children with substantiated cases of physical and sexual abuse and neglect (before the age of 11 years) from January 1, 1967, to December 31, 1971 (n = 676) were matched based on age, race, sex, and approximate family social class with a group of nonabused and nonneglected children (n = 520) and followed up into young adulthood (mean age, 28.7 years).

Main Outcomes Measures  Between October 20, 1989, and December 22, 1995, 2-hour in-person interviews were conducted, using the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule, Version III Revised, to determine DSM-III-R MDD and other psychiatric diagnoses.

Results  Child abuse and neglect were associated with an increased risk for current MDD (odds ratio [OR], 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-2.14; P.05) in young adulthood. Children who were physically abused (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.00-2.52; P.05) or experienced multiple types of abuse (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.01-3.02; P.05) were at increased risk of lifetime MDD, whereas neglect increased risk for current MDD (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.10-2.29; P<.01). Childhood sexual abuse was not associated with elevated risk of MDD. Kaplan-Meier age-of-onset curves (log-rank statistic, 4.03; df = 1; P=.04) showed earlier onset of MDD for abused and neglected children compared with controls. Among those with MDD, comorbidity was higher for abused and neglected individuals than for controls.

Conclusion  These results support the need for clinicians to increase efforts to detect and treat depression in physically abused and neglected children.

Author Affiliations: Department of Psychiatry, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark (Drs Widom and Czaja); and Bureau of Evaluation and Research, Office of Children and Family Services, Rensselaer, NY (Dr DuMont).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Exposure to interparental violence and psychosocial maladjustment in the adult life course: advocacy for early prevention
Roustit et al.
J. Epidemiol. Community Health 2009;63:563-568.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Institutional Rearing and Psychiatric Disorders in Romanian Preschool Children
Zeanah et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2009;166:777-785.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Family relationships in childhood and common psychiatric disorders in later life: systematic review of prospective studies
Weich et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2009;194:392-398.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Comparing Male and Female Juveniles Charged With Homicide: Child Maltreatment, Substance Abuse, and Crime Details
Roe-Sepowitz
J Interpers Violence 2009;24:601-617.
ABSTRACT  

Treating Bulimia Nervosa With a Stratified-Care Approach
Golan et al.
ICAN: Infant, Child, & Adolescent Nutrition 2009;1:45-53.
ABSTRACT  

A Review of Candidate Pathways Underlying the Association Between Asthma and Major Depressive Disorder
Van Lieshout et al.
Psychosom. Med. 2009;71:187-195.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Intimate Partner Violence, Maternal Stress, Nativity, and Risk for Maternal Maltreatment of Young Children
Taylor et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2009;99:175-183.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Elevated Inflammation Levels in Depressed Adults With a History of Childhood Maltreatment
Danese et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008;65:409-415.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Intimate Partner Violence and Health Care Costs and Utilization for Children Living in the Home
Rivara et al.
Pediatrics 2007;120:1270-1277.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Invited Commentary: The Life Course Epidemiology of Depression
Gilman
Am J Epidemiol 2007;166:1134-1137.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT