Relationship between childhood physical abuse and clinical severity of treatment-resistant depression in a geriatric population

Antoine Yrondi (1) , Christophe Arbus (1) , Djamila Bennabi , Thierry D’amato (2) , Frank Bellivier (3, 4) , Thierry Bougerol (5) , Vincent Camus (6) , Philippe Courtet (7) , Olivier Doumy (8) , Jean-Baptiste Genty (9) , Jérôme Holtzmann , Mathilde Horn , Christophe Lancon , Marion Leboyer , Pierre-Michel Llorca , Julia Maruani (3) , Rémi Moirand , Fanny Molière , Jean Petrucci , Raphaelle Richieri , Ludovic Samalin , Florian Stephan , Guillaume Vaiva , Michel Walter , Emmanuel Haffen , Bruno Aouizerate , Wissam El-Hage

1 ToNIC - Toulouse NeuroImaging Center
2 CRNL - Centre de recherche en neurosciences de Lyon - Lyon Neuroscience Research Center
3 Groupe Hospitalier Saint Louis - Lariboisière - Fernand Widal [Paris]
4 UPCité - Université Paris Cité
5 GIN - [GIN] Grenoble Institut des Neurosciences
6 iBraiN - Imaging, Brain & Neuropsychiatry
7 PSNREC - Neuropsychiatrie : recherche épidémiologique et clinique
8 NutriNeuro - Nutrition et Neurobiologie intégrée
9 IMRB - Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale

Introduction We assessed the correlation between childhood maltreatment (CM) and severity of depression in an elderly unipolar Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) sample. Methods Patients were enrolled from a longitudinal cohort (FACE-DR) of the French Network of Expert TRD Centres. Results Our sample included 96 patients (33% of the overall cohort) aged 60 years or above, with a mean age of 67.2 (SD = 5.7). The majority of the patients were female (62.5%). The Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Quick Inventory Depression Scale-Self Report (QIDS-SR) mean scores were high, 28.2 (SD = 7.49) [MADRS score range: 0–60; moderate severity≥20, high severity≥35] and 16.5 (SD = 4.94) [IDS-SR score range: 0–27; moderate severity≥11, high severity≥16], respectively. Mean self-esteem scores were 22.47 (SD = 6.26) [range 0–30]. In an age- and sex-adjusted model, we found a positive correlation between childhood trauma (CTQ scores) and depressive symptom severity [MADRS (β = 0.274; p = 0.07) and QIDS-SR (β = 0.302; p = 0.005) scores]. We detected a statistically significant correlation between physical abuse and depressive symptom severity [MADRS (β = 0.304; p = 0.03) and QIDS-SR (β = 0.362; p = 0.005) scores]. We did not observe any significant correlation between other types of trauma and depressive symptom severity. We showed that self-esteem (Rosenberg scale) mediated the effect of physical abuse (PA) on the intensity of depressive symptoms [MADRS: b = 0.318, 95% BCa C . I . [0.07, 0.62]; QIDS-SR: b = 0.177, 95% BCa C . I . [0.04, 0.37]]. Preacher & Kelly’s Kappa Squared values of 19.1% ( k 2 = 0.191) and 16% ( k 2 = 0.16), respectively for the two scales, indicate a moderate effect. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first study conducted in a geriatric TRD population documenting an association between childhood trauma (mainly relating to PA) and the intensity of depressive symptoms.

Domaines: Psychiatrie et santé mentale; Gériatrie et gérontologie; Santé publique et épidémiologie

Antoine Yrondi, Christophe Arbus, Djamila Bennabi, Thierry D’amato, Frank Bellivier, et al.. Relationship between childhood physical abuse and clinical severity of treatment-resistant depression in a geriatric population. PLoS ONE, 2021, 16 (4), pp.e0250148. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0250148⟩. ⟨hal-03239839⟩