The mediating effects of depressive symptoms on the association of childhood maltreatment with non-medical use of prescription drugs

Background: Childhood maltreatment might increase the risk of subsequent drug use behavior, and depressive symptoms have been reported to be associated both childhood maltreatment and non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD). This large-scale study aimed to test the mediating effects of depressive symptoms on the association of childhood maltreatment with NMUPD among Chinese adolescents.

Methods: A secondary analysis of the cross-sectional data collected from 7th to 12th graders who were sampled using a multistage, stratified cluster, random sampling method in the 2015 School-based Chinese Adolescents Health Survey. There were 24,457 students who were invited to participate and 23,039 students' questionnaires were completed and qualified for our survey (response rate: 94.2%).

Results: In the adjusted models without mediation, the results showed that students who reported that they had experienced emotional abuse were at a higher risk of past year use and past month use of opioids (past year: Adjusted OR [AOR] = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.05-1.10; past month: AOR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.06-1.10) and sedatives (past year: AOR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.03-1.08; past month: AOR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.13-1.16). The results of mediation analyses demonstrated that there were significant standardized indirect effects of emotional abuse on opioids use and sedatives use through depressive symptoms, respectively (P < 0.001).

Limitations: Our study sample only included school students, and causal inference could not be examined due to the cross-sectional design.

Conclusions: Depressive symptoms play a significant mediator role on the association of childhood maltreatment with NMUPD. Interventions targeted at adolescents who are involved in NMUPD should pay attention to their histories of childhood maltreatment.