Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-995ml Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T01:14:17.442Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2014

I. Colman*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
P. B. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK
D. Kuh
Affiliation:
MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, University College London, UK
M. Weeks
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
K. Naicker
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
M. Richards
Affiliation:
MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, University College London, UK
T. J. Croudace
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr I. Colman, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Room 3230C, Ottawa, ON, CanadaK1H 8M5. (Email: icolman@uottawa.ca)

Abstract

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.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alati, R, Lawlor, DA, Mamun, AA, Williams, GM, Najman, JM, O'Callaghan, M, Bor, W (2007). Is there a fetal origin of depression? Evidence from the Mater University Study of Pregnancy and its outcomes. American Journal of Epidemiology 165, 575582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, A, Garofalo, JP, Yali, AM (1999). Socioeconomic status and chronic stress. Does stress account for SES effects on health? Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 896, 131144.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Booth, A, Johnson, DR (1975). The effect of crowding on child health and development. American Behavioral Scientist 18, 736749.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheung, YB (2002). Early origins and adult correlates of psychosomatic distress. Social Science and Medicine 55, 937948.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheung, YB, Khoo, KS, Karlberg, J, Machin, D (2002). Association between psychological symptoms in adults and growth in early life: longitudinal follow up study. British Medical Journal 325, 749.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, C, Caldwell, T, Power, C, Stansfeld, SA (2010). Does the influence of childhood adversity on psychopathology persist across the lifecourse? A 45-year prospective epidemiologic study. Annals of Epidemiology 20, 385394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, C, Rodgers, B, Caldwell, T, Power, C, Stansfeld, S (2007). Childhood and adulthood psychological ill health as predictors of midlife affective and anxiety disorders: the 1958 British Birth Cohort. Archives of General Psychiatry 64, 668678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colman, I, Ataullahjan, A (2010). Life course perspectives on the epidemiology of depression. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 55, 622632.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colman, I, Ataullahjan, A, Naicker, K, Van Lieshout, RJ (2012). Birth weight, stress, and symptoms of depression in adolescence: evidence of fetal programming in a national Canadian cohort. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 57, 422428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colman, I, Jones, PB (2004). Birth cohort studies in psychiatry: beginning at the beginning. Psychological Medicine 34, 13751383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colman, I, Ploubidis, GB, Wadsworth, ME, Jones, PB, Croudace, TJ (2007 a). A longitudinal typology of symptoms of depression and anxiety over the life course. Biological Psychiatry 62, 12651271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colman, I, Wadsworth, ME, Croudace, TJ, Jones, PB (2007 b). Forty-year psychiatric outcomes following assessment for internalizing disorder in adolescence. American Journal of Psychiatry 164, 126133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooney, TM, Smith, LA (1996). Young adults’ relations with grandparents following recent parental divorce. Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 51, S91S95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costello, EJ, Worthman, C, Erkanli, A, Angold, A (2007). Prediction from low birth weight to female adolescent depression: a test of competing hypotheses. Archives of General Psychiatry 64, 338344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, GW, Maxwell, LE, Hart, B (1999). Parental language and verbal responsiveness to children in crowded homes. Developmental Psychology 35, 10201023.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, DM, Horwood, LJ, Ridder, EM, Beautrais, AL (2005). Subthreshold depression in adolescence and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Archives of General Psychiatry 62, 6672.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Festinger, L (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations 7, 117140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gale, CR, Batty, GD, Cooper, C, Deary, IJ (2009). Psychomotor coordination and intelligence in childhood and health in adulthood – testing the system integrity hypothesis. Psychosomatic Medicine 71, 675681.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gale, CR, Martyn, CN (2004). Birth weight and later risk of depression in a national birth cohort. British Journal of Psychiatry 184, 2833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldberg, DP, Hillier, VF (1979). A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychological Medicine 9, 139145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gulliford, MC, Chinn, S, Rona, RJ (1991). Social environment and height: England and Scotland 1987 and 1988. Archives of Disease in Childhood 66, 235240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hack, M, Youngstrom, EA, Cartar, L, Schluchter, M, Taylor, HG, Flannery, D, Klein, N, Borawski, E (2004). Behavioral outcomes and evidence of psychopathology among very low birth weight infants at age 20 years. Pediatrics 114, 932940.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hammen, C (2005). Stress and depression. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 1, 293319.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horesh, N, Klomek, AB, Apter, A (2008). Stressful life events and major depressive disorders. Psychiatry Research 160, 192199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaffee, SR, Moffitt, TE, Caspi, A, Fombonne, E, Poulton, R, Martin, J (2002). Differences in early childhood risk factors for juvenile-onset and adult-onset depression. Archives of General Psychiatry 59, 215222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jakobsen, IS, Horwood, LJ, Fergusson, DM (2012). Childhood anxiety/withdrawal, adolescent parent-child attachment and later risk of depression and anxiety disorder. Journal of Child and Family Studies 21, 303310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendler, KS, Gardner, CO, Prescott, CA (2002). Toward a comprehensive developmental model for major depression in women. American Journal of Psychiatry 159, 11331145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendler, KS, Gardner, CO, Prescott, CA (2003). Personality and the experience of environmental adversity. Psychological Medicine 33, 11931202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, KS, Gardner, CO, Prescott, CA (2006). Toward a comprehensive developmental model for major depression in men. American Journal of Psychiatry 163, 115124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kessler, RC, Davis, CG, Kendler, KS (1997). Childhood adversity and adult psychiatric disorder in the US National Comorbidity Survey. Psychological Medicine 27, 11011119.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessler, RC, Merikangas, KR, Berglund, P, Eaton, WW, Koretz, DS, Walters, EE (2003). Mild disorders should not be eliminated from the DSM-V. Archives of General Psychiatry 60, 11171122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim-Cohen, J, Caspi, A, Moffitt, TE, Harrington, H, Milne, BJ, Poulton, R (2003). Prior juvenile diagnoses in adults with mental disorder: developmental follow-back of a prospective-longitudinal cohort. Archives of General Psychiatry 60, 709717.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koenen, KC, Moffitt, TE, Roberts, AL, Martin, LT, Kubzansky, L, Harrington, H, Poulton, R, Caspi, A (2009). Childhood IQ and adult mental disorders: a test of the cognitive reserve hypothesis. American Journal of Psychiatry 166, 5057.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kresanov, K, Tuominen, J, Piha, J, Almqvist, F (1998). Validity of child psychiatric screening methods. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 7, 8595.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuehner, C (2003). Gender differences in unipolar depression: an update of epidemiological findings and possible explanations. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 108, 163174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuh, D, Bassey, EJ, Butterworth, S, Hardy, R, Wadsworth, ME (2005). Grip strength, postural control, and functional leg power in a representative cohort of British men and women: associations with physical activity, health status, and socioeconomic conditions. Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 60, 224231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindelow, M, Hardy, R, Rodgers, B (1997). Development of a scale to measure symptoms of anxiety and depression in the general UK population: the Psychiatric Symptom Frequency scale. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 51, 549557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lizardi, D, Thompson, RG, Keyes, K, Hasin, D (2009). Parental divorce, parental depression, and gender differences in adult offspring suicide attempt. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 197, 899904.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Melchior, M, Moffitt, TE, Milne, BJ, Poulton, R, Caspi, A (2007). Why do children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families suffer from poor health when they reach adulthood? A life-course study. American Journal of Epidemiology 166, 966974.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Merikangas, KR, Zhang, H, Avenevoli, S, Acharyya, S, Neuenschwander, M, Angst, J (2003). Longitudinal trajectories of depression and anxiety in a prospective community study: the Zurich Cohort Study. Archives of General Psychiatry 60, 9931000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muthén, LK, Muthén, BO (1998–2007). Mplus User's Guide, 5th edn. Muthén & Muthén: Los Angeles, CA.Google Scholar
Osler, M, Nordentoft, M, Andersen, AM (2005). Birth dimensions and risk of depression in adulthood: cohort study of Danish men born in 1953. British Journal of Psychiatry 186, 400403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pesonen, AK, Raikkonen, K, Heinonen, K, Kajantie, E, Forsen, T, Eriksson, JG (2007). Depressive symptoms in adults separated from their parents as children: a natural experiment during World War II. American Journal of Epidemiology 166, 11261133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Piaget, J (1926). The Language and Thought of the Child. Harcourt, Brace: Oxford.Google Scholar
Rutter, M (1967). A children's behaviour questionnaire for completion by teachers: preliminary findings. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 8, 111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M, Kim-Cohen, J, Maughan, B (2006). Continuities and discontinuities in psychopathology between childhood and adult life. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines 47, 276295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryalls, BO, Gul, RE, Ryalls, KR (2000). Infant imitation of peer and adult models: evidence for a peer model advantage. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 46, 188202.Google Scholar
Sadowski, H, Ugarte, B, Kolvin, I, Kaplan, C, Barnes, J (1999). Early life family disadvantages and major depression in adulthood. British Journal of Psychiatry 174, 112120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shenkin, SD, Starr, JM, Deary, IJ (2004). Birth weight and cognitive ability in childhood: a systematic review. Psychological Bulletin 130, 9891013.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sourander, A, MultimAki, P, Santalahti, P, Parkkola, K, Haavisto, A, Helenius, H, Nikolakaros, G, Piha, J, Tamminen, T, Moilanen, I, Kumpulainen, K, Aronen, ET, Linna, SL, Puura, K, Almqvist, F (2004). Mental health service use among 18-year-old adolescent boys: a prospective 10-year follow-up study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 43, 12501258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stansfeld, SA, Clark, C, Caldwell, T, Rodgers, B, Power, C (2008 a). Psychosocial work characteristics and anxiety and depressive disorders in midlife: the effects of prior psychological distress. Occupational and Environmental Medicine 65, 634642.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stansfeld, SA, Clark, C, Rodgers, B, Caldwell, T, Power, C (2008 b). Childhood and adulthood socio-economic position and midlife depressive and anxiety disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry 192, 152153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steiger, JH, Lind, JM (1980). Statistically based tests for the number of common factors. Paper presented at the Annual Spring Meeting of the Psychometric Society, Iowa City, IA (http://www.statpower.net/SteigerBiblio/Steiger-Lind 1980.pdf).Google Scholar
Thompson, C, Syddall, H, Rodin, I, Osmond, C, Barker, DJ (2001). Birth weight and the risk of depressive disorder in late life. British Journal of Psychiatry 179, 450455.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tucker, LR, Lewis, C (1973). A reliability coefficient for maximum likelihood factor analysis. Psychometrika 38, 110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Os, J, Park, SB, Jones, PB (2001). Neuroticism, life events and mental health: evidence for person-environment correlation. British Journal of Psychiatry 178 (Suppl. 40), s72s77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wachs, TD (1978). The relationship of infants’ physical environment to their Binet performance at 2½ years. International Journal of Behavioral Development 1, 5165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wachs, TD (1979). Proximal experience and early cognitive-intellectual development: the physical environment. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 25, 341.Google Scholar
Wadsworth, ME, Butterworth, SL, Hardy, RJ, Kuh, DJ, Richards, M, Langenberg, C, Hilder, WS, Connor, M (2003). The life course prospective design: an example of benefits and problems associated with study longevity. Social Science and Medicine 57, 21932205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wadsworth, ME, Hardy, RJ, Paul, AA, Marshall, SF, Cole, TJ (2002). Leg and trunk length at 43 years in relation to childhood health, diet and family circumstances; evidence from the 1946 national birth cohort. International Journal of Epidemiology 31, 383390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weinstock, M (2007). Gender differences in the effects of prenatal stress on brain development and behaviour. Neurochemical Research 32, 17301740.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, JK, Cooper, JE, Sartorius, N (1974). The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Wintre, MG, Ames, ME, Pancer, SM, Pratt, MW, Polivy, J, Birnie-Lefcovitch, S, Adams, GR (2011). Parental divorce and first-year students’ transition to university: the need to include baseline data and gender. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 52, 326343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar