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Early development, stress and depression across the life course: pathways to depression in a national British birth cohort

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2014

I. Colman ,
P. B. Jones ,
D. Kuh ,
M. Weeks ,
K. Naicker ,
M. Richards  and
T. J. Croudace
I. Colman*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
P. B. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK
D. Kuh
Affiliation:
MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, University College London, UK
M. Weeks
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
K. Naicker
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
M. Richards
Affiliation:
MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, University College London, UK
T. J. Croudace
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK
*
* Address for correspondence: Dr I. Colman, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Room 3230C, Ottawa, ON, CanadaK1H 8M5. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

The aetiology of depression is multifactorial, with biological, cognitive and environmental factors across the life course influencing risk of a depressive episode. There is inconsistent evidence linking early life development and later depression. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between low birthweight (LBW), infant neurodevelopment, and acute and chronic stress as components in pathways to depression in adulthood.

Method

The sample included 4627 members of the National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD; the 1946 British birth cohort). Weight at birth, age of developmental milestones, economic deprivation in early childhood, acute stressors in childhood and adulthood, and socio-economic status (SES) in adulthood were assessed for their direct and indirect effects on adolescent (ages 13 and 15 years) and adult (ages 36, 43 and 53 years) measures of depressive symptoms in a structural equation modelling (SEM) framework. A structural equation model developed to incorporate all variables exhibited excellent model fit according to several indices.

Results

The path of prediction from birthweight to age of developmental milestones to adolescent depression/anxiety to adult depression/anxiety was significant (p < 0.001). Notably, direct paths from birthweight (p = 0.25) and age of developmental milestones (p = 0.23) to adult depression were not significant. Childhood deprivation and stressors had important direct and indirect effects on depression. Stressors in adulthood were strongly associated with adult depression.

Conclusions

Depression in adulthood is influenced by an accumulation of stressors across the life course, including many that originate in the first years of life. Effects of early-life development on mental health appear by adolescence.

Keywords

Depressiondevelopmentlife coursestress
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 44 , Issue 13 , October 2014 , pp. 2845 - 2854
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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