Do Adult Attachment Style or Personality Mediate the Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Late-Life Depression in Poor Communities?. (May 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gomes Jardim, Gabriel Behr; Gomes, Irenio; Mehdi, Gholam; Ranjbar, Setareh; Engroff, Paula; Santos, Milena Antunes; Neto, Alfredo Cataldo; von Gunten, Armin
• Is Part Of: Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology. Volume 36:Number 3(2023)
• Page Start: 246
• Page End: 253
• Publication Date: 2023-05
• Subjects: childhood maltreatment -- late-life depression -- personality -- attachment; Geriatric neurology -- Periodicals; Geriatric neuropsychiatry -- Periodicals; Geriatric psychiatry -- Periodicals; Nervous system -- Diseases -- Periodicals; 618.97689
• DOI: 10.1177/08919887221119979
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0891-9887

Abstract

Objective: Childhood maltreatment is associated with late-life depression. Preliminary evidence indicates that personality characteristics, in particular neuroticism and extroversion, and an anxious attachment style mediate this association. The objective is to evaluate 3 models, in which personality and attachment are considered mediators between childhood maltreatment and late-life depression in a socioeconomically disadvantaged Brazilian population. Methods: This study included participants (n = 260) from socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods of Porto Alegre, Brazil, who completed measures of childhood maltreatment (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire – CTQ), personality characteristics (NEO-Five Factor Inventory), attachment styles (Relationship Scales Questionnaire), and geriatric depression (Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus). General multiple and sequential mediation analyses were used to test for possible associations. Results: Attachment anxiety but not attachment avoidance is a mediator between childhood maltreatment and geriatric depression. Neuroticism is a full mediator. At that, attachment anxiety was found to be a predictor of neuroticism. Finally, sequential mediation analysis shows a path from childhood maltreatment to geriatric depression through attachment anxiety and neuroticism. Conclusions: The results suggest a pathway from childhood maltreatment to anxious attachment, which in turn predicts higher neuroticism that itself may favor late-life depression. This hypothesis could have implications for older adults living in low socioeconomic settings in that treating the high-risk group of maltreated children may help prevent late-life depression.