The mediating role of personality traits in the association between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms in young adulthood

Maria Koschig; Ines Conrad; Klaus Berger; Bernhard T Baune; Hans J Grabe; Denis Gerstorf; Claudia Meinke-Franze; Henry Völzke; Rafael Mikolajczyk; Michael Leitzmann; Julia Fricke; Thomas Keil; Lena Koch-Gallenkamp; Laura Perna; Nadia Obi; Alexander Pabst; Steffi G Riedel-Heller

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.06.027

The mediating role of personality traits in the association between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms in young adulthood

J Affect Disord. 2023 Oct 1:338:373-379. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.06.027. Epub 2023 Jun 17.

Authors

Maria Koschig¹, Ines Conrad², Klaus Berger³, Bernhard T Baune⁴, Hans J Grabe⁵, Denis Gerstorf⁶, Claudia Meinke-Franze⁷, Henry Völzke⁷, Rafael Mikolajczyk⁸, Michael Leitzmann⁹, Julia Fricke¹⁰, Thomas Keil¹¹, Lena Koch-Gallenkamp¹², Laura Perna¹³, Nadia Obi¹⁴, Alexander Pabst², Steffi G Riedel-Heller²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP), Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP), Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
³ Institute of Epidemiology & Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Australia; The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
⁶ Humboldt University Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
⁷ Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
⁸ Institute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometry and Informatics (IMEBI), Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle Wittenberg, Germany; German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Site Jena-Magdeburg-Halle, Germany; Center for Intervention and Research on adaptive and maladaptive brain Circuits underlying mental health (C-I-R-C), Jena-Magdeburg-Halle, Germany.
⁹ Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Regensburg University Medical Center, Germany.
¹⁰ Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
¹¹ Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany; State Institute of Health, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Erlangen, Germany.
¹² German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, Heidelberg, Germany.
¹³ Department Genes and Environment, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.
¹⁴ Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.

PMID: 37331380
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.06.027

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of the Big 5 personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness) in the association between early traumatization and depressive symptoms in early adulthood (20-25-year-olds) in a German population-based sample.

Methods: A total of 3176 participants from the German National Cohort (NAKO) baseline with an age between 20 and 25 years were included in this investigation. The sum score of the 9-item-version of the Patient Health Questionnaire was used for assessment of depressive symptoms. A structural equation model was built to test the paths between childhood trauma, Big 5 personality traits and depressive symptoms.

Results: Overall, 10.7 % of the young adult sample had a PHQ-9 sum score of ten or higher. The final mediation model fitted well for young adults. We found evidence for a partial mediating effect of Big 5 personality traits.

Limitations: We only adjusted for age, sex, and year of data collection and did not include biological factors in the model.

Conclusion: Young adults with early trauma experiences have a risk for developing depressive symptoms in young adulthood. Personality traits, especially neuroticism, partially mediated the association between early trauma and depressive symptoms for young adults and should be recognized in preventive strategies.

Keywords: Adolescent; Adverse childhood experiences; Depression; Germany; Risk factors; Structural equation modelling.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Adverse Childhood Experiences*
Depression* / epidemiology
Humans
Neuroticism
Personality
Young Adult