Moderating effects of resilience on depression in individuals with a history of childhood abuse or trauma exposure

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Aliza Wingo, Emory University; Glenda L. Wrenn, Emory University; Tiffany Pelletier, Emory University; Alisa R. Gutman, Emory University; Bekh Bradley-Davino, Emory University; Kerry J. Ressler, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2010-11
• Publisher: Elsevier: 12 months
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2010.04.009
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Affective Disorders
• ISSN: 0165-0327
• Volume: 126
• Issue: 3
• Start Page: 411
• End Page: 414
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was primarily supported by a research fellowship award from the American Psychiatric Institute for Research & Education and an NIH grant UL RR025008 (to APW) and the National Institutes of Mental Health (MH071537). Support was also received from the Emory and Grady Memorial Hospital General Clinical Research Center, NIH National Centers for Research Resources (M01RR00039), the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (BB) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (KJR).
• Keywords: Childhood abuse; Moderating effects; Trauma; Depression; Resilience
• Research Categories: Psychology, General

Abstract

Background Influences of resilience on the presence and severity of depression following trauma exposure are largely unknown. Hence, we examined effects of resilience on depressive symptom severity in individuals with past childhood abuse and/or other trauma exposure. Methods In this cross-sectional study of 792 adults, resilience was measured with the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), childhood abuse with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and other traumas with the Trauma Events Inventory. Results Multiple linear regression modeling with depression severity (BDI score) as the outcome yielded 4 factors: childhood abuse (β=2.5, p<0.0001), other trauma (β=3.5, p<0.0001), resilience (β=−0.5, p<0.0001), and other trauma×resilience interaction term (β=−0.1, p=0.0021), all of which were significantly associated with depression severity, even after adjusting for age, sex, race, education, employment, income, marital status, and family psychiatric history. Childhood abuse and trauma exposure contributed to depressive symptom severity while resilience mitigated it. Conclusions Resilience moderates depressive symptom severity in individuals exposed to childhood abuse or other traumas both as a main effect and an interaction with trauma exposure. Resilience may be amenable to external manipulation and could present a potential focus for treatments and interventions.