Adversity in childhood predicts depressive symptoms and suicide attempts in adult Portuguese women

This study examined the prevalence of 10 categories of self-reported childhood adverse experiences in adult Portuguese women and assessed whether these factors were predictive of depressive symptoms and suicide attempts. A total of 225 women completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study Questionnaire and evaluated the depression subscale of the Brief Symptoms Inventory. Almost 96.0% of the participant women reported being exposed to at least one adverse experience in childhood and adolescence. Linear regression indicated that the total adversity explains 6.6% of the variance in symptoms of depression, whereas logistic regression indicated that the increase in adversity by one point increased the risk of suicide attempts 1,818 times. The results obtained show that exposure to adverse childhood experiences is frequent and that the degree of exposure is a predictor of depressive symptoms and suicide attempts.