Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Chronic Health Conditions on Current Depression

This study investigated the ability of three adverse childhood experience (ACE) types (household dysfunction, emotional/physical abuse, and sexual abuse) to predict current depression among adults. We also determined the contribution of ACEs to current depression after controlling for covariates and chronic illnesses. Respondents to the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 20,345) were divided into depressed and not depressed groups based on Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) scores. Binary logistic regression determined the ability of ACE exposure to predict depression while controlling for effects of covariates and number of chronic illnesses. Hierarchical multiple linear regression determined the association of ACEs on depression scores after accounting for the covariate set and chronic illnesses. Sexual Abuse had the single strongest association with current depression of any ACE exposure. Exposure to three ACE types has the greatest association with current depression. ACEs accounted for about 7% of the variance in depression scores.