Consistency in adult reporting of adverse childhood experiences.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have used retrospective reports to assess the long-term consequences of early life stress. However, current individual characteristics and experiences may bias the recall of these reports. In particular, depressed mood may increase the likelihood of recall of negative experiences. The aim of the study was to assess whether specific factors are associated with consistency in the reporting of childhood adverse experiences. METHOD: The sample comprised 7466 adults from Canada's National Population Health Survey who had reported on seven childhood adverse experiences in 1994/1995 and 2006/2007. Logistic regression was used to explore differences between those who consistently reported adverse experiences and those whose reports were inconsistent. RESULTS: Among those retrospectively reporting on childhood traumatic experiences in 1994/1995 and 2006/2007, 39% were inconsistent in their reports of these experiences. The development of depression, increasing levels of psychological distress, as well as increasing work and chronic stress were associated with an increasing likelihood of reporting a childhood adverse experience in 2006/2007 that had not been previously reported. Increases in mastery were associated with reduced likelihood of new reporting of a childhood adverse experience in 2006/2007. The development of depression and increases in chronic stress and psychological distress were also associated with reduced likelihood of 'forgetting' a previously reported event. CONCLUSIONS: Concurrent mental health factors may influence the reporting of traumatic childhood experiences. Studies that use retrospective reporting to estimate associations between childhood adversity and adult outcomes associated with mental health may be biased.

Early development, stress and depression across the life course: pathways to depression in a national British birth cohort.

BACKGROUND: The aetiology of depression is multifactorial, with biological, cognitive and environmental factors across the life course influencing risk of a depressive episode. There is inconsistent evidence linking early life development and later depression. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between low birthweight (LBW), infant neurodevelopment, and acute and chronic stress as components in pathways to depression in adulthood. METHOD: The sample included 4627 members of the National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD; the 1946 British birth cohort). Weight at birth, age of developmental milestones, economic deprivation in early childhood, acute stressors in childhood and adulthood, and socio-economic status (SES) in adulthood were assessed for their direct and indirect effects on adolescent (ages 13 and 15 years) and adult (ages 36, 43 and 53 years) measures of depressive symptoms in a structural equation modelling (SEM) framework. A structural equation model developed to incorporate all variables exhibited excellent model fit according to several indices. RESULTS: The path of prediction from birthweight to age of developmental milestones to adolescent depression/anxiety to adult depression/anxiety was significant (p < 0.001). Notably, direct paths from birthweight (p = 0.25) and age of developmental milestones (p = 0.23) to adult depression were not significant. Childhood deprivation and stressors had important direct and indirect effects on depression. Stressors in adulthood were strongly associated with adult depression. CONCLUSIONS: Depression in adulthood is influenced by an accumulation of stressors across the life course, including many that originate in the first years of life. Effects of early-life development on mental health appear by adolescence.

Childhood cognitive ability and its relationship with anxiety and depression in adolescence.

BACKGROUND: Childhood cognitive ability may have protective effects against internalizing symptoms in adolescence, although this may depend on the time of symptom assessment and child gender. Also, the effects of childhood stressors on adolescent internalizing symptoms may be moderated by childhood cognitive ability. METHODS: The sample included 4405 individuals from the Canadian National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (NLSCY). Between ages 4-5 and 10-11, children completed a test of verbal ability and scholastic aptitude and a series of mathematics computation tests. Internalizing symptoms were assessed via self-reports at ages 12-13 and 14-15. RESULTS: Greater cognitive ability was generally associated with decreased odds of internalizing symptoms at age 12-13. However, greater cognitive ability generally increased, or had no effect on, the odds of internalizing symptoms at age 14-15. Some of the effects of childhood cognitive ability varied with child gender. Also, childhood cognitive ability attenuated the effects of family dysfunction and chronic illness throughout childhood on subsequent internalizing symptoms. LIMITATIONS: These data are largely subject to some degree of reporting bias, the tests of cognitive ability are limited and may not represent overall cognitive ability, and there may be intermediary variables that account for the relationship between childhood cognitive ability and adolescent internalizing symptoms. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that programs attempting to increase early cognitive skills may be particularly beneficial for girls. Also, an increased focus on cognitive skills may attenuate the negative effects of some stressors on subsequent anxious and depressive symptoms, regardless of child gender.

Acid mine drainage arising from gold mining activity in Johannesburg, South Africa and environs.

The Witwatersrand region of South Africa is famous for its gold production and a major conurbation, centred on Johannesburg, has developed as a result of mining activity. A study was undertaken of surface and ground water in a drainage system in this area. Soils were also analysed from a site within the mining district. This study revealed that the ground water within the mining district is heavily contaminated and acidified as a result of oxidation of pyrite (FeS2) contained within mine tailings dumps, and has elevated concentrations of heavy metals. Where the water table is close to surface, the upper 20 cm of soil profiles are severely contaminated by heavy metals due to capillary rise and evaporation of the ground water. The polluted ground water is discharging into streams in the area and contributes up to 20% of stream discharge, causing a lowering of pH of the stream water. Much of the metal load is precipitated in the stream: Fe and Mn precipitate as a consequence of oxidation, while other heavy metals are being removed by co-precipitation. The oxidation of iron has created a redox buffer which controls the pH of the stream water. The rate of oxidation and of dilution is slow and the deleterious effect of the addition of contaminated water persists for more than 10 km beyond the source.