Adverse childhood experiences, sexual orientation, and depressive symptoms among Chinese college students: An ecological framework analysis

Background: Extensive evidence has demonstrated that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) predict a high risk of negative health and behavioral outcomes in later life. However, the influ-ence of individuals' psychosocial characteristics and environmental stressors have been mostly omitted in previous research.Objective: This study aimed to examine the prevalence of ACEs among LGB (lesbian, gay, and bisexual) and heterosexual emerging adults, and the associations between different patterns of ACE exposure and depressive symptoms after adjusting for factors at different levels. Participants and setting: A representative sample of 928 college students in Xiamen city, China was recruited.Methods: Latent class analysis was applied to identify the patterns of ACEs. A series of regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between ACEs and depression and whether ACEs interacted with sexual identity to influence depression, after controlling for individual characteristics, family, school, and society-level factors.Results: Over 35 % of the participants reported they had experienced at least one type of moderate to extreme childhood maltreatment, and those who identified as LGB reported a higher level of ACE exposure. Higher levels of ACE exposure based on score and clustering approaches were associated with higher risks of depression among Chinese emerging adults. However, the asso-ciations between ACEs and depression were not significantly moderated by sexual identity.Conclusions: The findings highlighted the importance of early screening for ACEs particularly among sexual minorities and of delivering tailored interventions based on ecological back-grounds. Both the traditional scoring approach and a data-driven approach can be effective in detecting the cumulative effect of ACEs.

Automated summary

This study aimed to examine the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their associations with depression among college students in Xiamen city, China. The findings revealed that over 35% of the participants reported experiencing at least one type of moderate to extreme childhood maltreatment, with those identifying as LGB reporting higher levels of ACE exposure. Higher levels of ACE exposure were associated with increased risks of depression among Chinese emerging adults. However, sexual identity did not significantly moderate the associations between ACEs and depression. These findings underscore the importance of early screening for ACEs, particularly among sexual minorities, and providing tailored interventions based on ecological backgrounds.