The relationship between childhood adversity, recent stressors, and depression in college students attending a South African university
| dc.contributor.author | Mall, Sumaya | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mortier, Philippe | |
| dc.contributor.author | Taljaard, Lian | |
| dc.contributor.author | Roos, Janine | |
| dc.contributor.author | Stein, Dan J | |
| dc.contributor.author | Lochner, Christine | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-05-04T07:52:21Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-05-04T07:52:21Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018-03-09 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2018-04-09T15:11:10Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Background College students are at risk of depression. This risk may be increased by the experience of childhood adversity and/or recent stressors. This study examined the association between reported experiences of childhood adversity, recent stressors and depression during the last 12 months in a cohort of South African university students. Methods Six hundred and eighty-six first year students at Stellenbosch University in South Africa completed a health-focused e-survey that included items on childhood adversity, recent stressors and mood. Individual and population attributable risk proportions (PARP) between experiences of childhood adversity and 12-month stressful experiences and 12-month depression were estimated using multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis. Results About one in six students reported depression during the last 12 months. Being a victim of bullying and emotional abuse or emotional neglect during childhood were the strongest predictors of depression in the past year at both individual and population level. With regard to recent stressors, a romantic partner being unfaithful, serious ongoing arguments or break-ups with some other close friend or family member and a sexual or gender identity crisis were the strongest predictors of depression. The predictor effect of recent stressors was significantly reduced in the final model that adjusted for the type and number of childhood traumatic experiences. At a population level, academic stress, serious ongoing arguments or break-ups with a close friend or family member, and serious betrayal by someone close were the variables that yielded the highest PARP. Conclusions Our findings suggest a significant relationship between early adversity, recent stressors, and depression here and throughout, consistent with the broader literature on predictors of depression. This study contributes to the limited data on college students’ mental health in low and middle income countries including on the African continent. The findings provide information on the population level effect sizes of trauma as a risk factor for depression, as well as on the relationship between specific recent stressors and depression in college students. | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Mall, S., Mortier, P., Taljaard, L., Roos, J., Stein, D. J., & Lochner, C. (2018). The relationship between childhood adversity, recent stressors, and depression in college students attending a South African university. <i>BMC Psychiatry</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27928 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Mall, Sumaya, Philippe Mortier, Lian Taljaard, Janine Roos, Dan J Stein, and Christine Lochner "The relationship between childhood adversity, recent stressors, and depression in college students attending a South African university." <i>BMC Psychiatry</i> (2018) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27928 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | BMC Psychiatry. 2018 Mar 09;18(1):63 | |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Journal Article AU - Mall, Sumaya AU - Mortier, Philippe AU - Taljaard, Lian AU - Roos, Janine AU - Stein, Dan J AU - Lochner, Christine AB - Background College students are at risk of depression. This risk may be increased by the experience of childhood adversity and/or recent stressors. This study examined the association between reported experiences of childhood adversity, recent stressors and depression during the last 12 months in a cohort of South African university students. Methods Six hundred and eighty-six first year students at Stellenbosch University in South Africa completed a health-focused e-survey that included items on childhood adversity, recent stressors and mood. Individual and population attributable risk proportions (PARP) between experiences of childhood adversity and 12-month stressful experiences and 12-month depression were estimated using multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis. Results About one in six students reported depression during the last 12 months. Being a victim of bullying and emotional abuse or emotional neglect during childhood were the strongest predictors of depression in the past year at both individual and population level. With regard to recent stressors, a romantic partner being unfaithful, serious ongoing arguments or break-ups with some other close friend or family member and a sexual or gender identity crisis were the strongest predictors of depression. The predictor effect of recent stressors was significantly reduced in the final model that adjusted for the type and number of childhood traumatic experiences. At a population level, academic stress, serious ongoing arguments or break-ups with a close friend or family member, and serious betrayal by someone close were the variables that yielded the highest PARP. Conclusions Our findings suggest a significant relationship between early adversity, recent stressors, and depression here and throughout, consistent with the broader literature on predictors of depression. This study contributes to the limited data on college students’ mental health in low and middle income countries including on the African continent. The findings provide information on the population level effect sizes of trauma as a risk factor for depression, as well as on the relationship between specific recent stressors and depression in college students. DA - 2018-03-09 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/s12888-017-1583-9 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - BMC Psychiatry LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2018 T1 - The relationship between childhood adversity, recent stressors, and depression in college students attending a South African university TI - The relationship between childhood adversity, recent stressors, and depression in college students attending a South African university UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27928 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1583-9 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27928 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Mall S, Mortier P, Taljaard L, Roos J, Stein DJ, Lochner C. The relationship between childhood adversity, recent stressors, and depression in college students attending a South African university. BMC Psychiatry. 2018; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27928. | en_ZA |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | BioMed Central | |
| dc.publisher.department | Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Cape Town | |
| dc.rights.holder | The Author(s). | |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.source | BMC Psychiatry | |
| dc.source.uri | https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/ | |
| dc.subject.other | College students | |
| dc.subject.other | Depression | |
| dc.subject.other | Childhood adversity | |
| dc.subject.other | Recent Stressors | |
| dc.subject.other | South Africa | |
| dc.title | The relationship between childhood adversity, recent stressors, and depression in college students attending a South African university | |
| dc.type | Journal Article | |
| uct.type.filetype | Text | |
| uct.type.filetype | Image |