Adult mood disorders and childhood psychological trauma

Objective: To evaluate the association between adult mood disorders and childhood psychological trauma in a developing country. Method: Adults with and without mood disorders were assessed in a case-control study using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Assessment of childhood trauma included physical and sexual abuse, frequent exposure to violence, and parental loss. Results: In two independent multivariate analyses, after adjusting for potential confounding factors, we found a higher odds ratio for frequent exposure to violence in the community (p =.037) and for physical abuse by parents or caregivers during childhood/adolescence (p = .012) in the group with mood disorders than in the control group. In secondary analyses splitting the mood disorder group in two subgroups (manic episode, and major depressive episodes/ dysthymia), only manic patients showed significantly higher rates of frequent exposure to violence in the community (p = 0.01) and physical abuse during childhood (p = 0.02) than did patients in the control group. In addition, maniac patients had significantly higher rates of sexual abuse than did controls (p = .03). Conclusions: Our findings document an association between violence during childhood and adult mood disorders, especially for manic patients, in a developing country.