Influence of early-life stress on late-life depression: Systematic review

34^th International Conference on Psychology, Psychotherapy and Mental Wellness

February 24-25, 2025 Webinar

Ishita Vashisht

King's College London, United Kingdom

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Clinical Neurology & Neurosurgery

Abstract :

Early-life stress (ELS) has an impact on the HPA-axis and brain structure of an individual and might have an association with late-life depression (LLD). Moreover, different types of stressful situations could impact people variedly. The present study aimed to systematically review the influence of early life stress and its subtypes and neurobiological correlates on late-onset depression. Three English-language databases (PsycINFO, Medline and Embase) were\ explored using search keywords and 659 articles were extracted. 19 articles with 56,223\ participants that were able to meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the review. The odds ratios (OR) and correlation coefficients were extracted to interpret the results. It was found that there was a significant association between ELS and LLD and a greater number (more than four) of adverse events led to a higher risk of developing MDD symptoms in later adulthood. Physical abuse was found to be the most significant according to several studies while people who experienced sexual abuse, emotional neglect, parental substance abuse and financial difficulties in childhood also increased odds for LLD. Inflammation was found to be a mediator but there was no change in the brain structural development of areas like corpus callosum (CC) area or hippocampal (HC) volume in people with LLD who had history of ELS. The study explained the relationship of ELS and its subtypes on LLD and has highlighted the significant impact of abuse and other forms of stressful situations on an entire lifetime of a person. The results of this review must be interpreted cautiously as most studies did not particularly distinguish between first MDE at old age or just an episode of MDD at old age, therefore, a causal relationship still cannot be established.