ArticleBMC psychiatry2018
The relationship between childhood adversity, recent stressors, and depression in college students attending a South African university.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 80 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychological resilience and mood disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Trends in psychiatry and psychotherapy · 2024Pooled it
- An exploratory test of the pathways between adverse childhood experiences and later perpetration of intimate partner violence in South African male youth using theoretical frameworks.Child abuse & neglect · 2026Article
- Sperm sncRNA networks are synchronized by a coordination between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and current stress.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Childhood adversity and depressive symptoms in undergraduates: a partial proportional odds model reveals severity-dependent life event associations and stress sensitization.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- The Association Between Childhood Trauma and Prodromal Psychotic Symptoms in Nursing Undergraduates: Mediating Roles of Depression and Anxiety.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Article
- The effects of adverse childhood experiences on subjective happiness: the serial mediation role of regulatory emotional self-efficacy and future anxiety.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Symptoms of ADHD and Other Common Mental Disorders Influence Academic Success in South African Undergraduates.Journal of attention disorders · 2025Article
- Trauma as a mediator of childhood adversity and mental illness in South Africa: A path analysis.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2025Article
- Childhood Trauma and Depressive Level Among Chinese College Students in Guangzhou: The Roles of Rumination and Perceived Stress.Psychiatry investigation · 2024Article
- Can I Leave the Past Behind? Associations between Childhood Abuse and Adult Psychopathology.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Depression and Anxiety of Portuguese University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study about Prevalence and Associated Factors.Depression and anxiety · 2024Article
- Anxiety and depression in first-year university students: the role of family and social support.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Article
- Strong Father-Child Relationships and Other Positive Childhood Experiences, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Sexual Risk Factors for HIV among Young Adults Aged 19-24 Years, Namibia, 2019: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Childhood Adversity and Mental Health Outcomes Among University Students: A Longitudinal Study.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2023Article
- Understanding the relationships between physiological and psychosocial stress, cortisol and cognition.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
- The relationship between depression symptoms and academic performance among first-year undergraduate students at a South African university: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Suicidal Thoughts, Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress, and Harmful Alcohol Use Associated with Intimate Partner Violence and Rape Exposures among Female Students in South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Generation Z undergraduate students' resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Can the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) checklist be utilized to predict emergency department visits among children and adolescents?BMC medical research methodology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCollege students are at risk of depression. This risk may be increased by the experience of childhood adversity and/or recent stressors. This study examined the association between reported experiences of childhood adversity, recent stressors and depression during the last 12 months in a cohort of South African university students.
methodsSix hundred and eighty-six first year students at Stellenbosch University in South Africa completed a health-focused e-survey that included items on childhood adversity, recent stressors and mood. Individual and population attributable risk proportions (PARP) between experiences of childhood adversity and 12-month stressful experiences and 12-month depression were estimated using multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis.
resultsAbout one in six students reported depression during the last 12 months. Being a victim of bullying and emotional abuse or emotional neglect during childhood were the strongest predictors of depression in the past year at both individual and population level. With regard to recent stressors, a romantic partner being unfaithful, serious ongoing arguments or break-ups with some other close friend or family member and a sexual or gender identity crisis were the strongest predictors of depression. The predictor effect of recent stressors was significantly reduced in the final model that adjusted for the type and number of childhood traumatic experiences. At a population level, academic stress, serious ongoing arguments or break-ups with a close friend or family member, and serious betrayal by someone close were the variables that yielded the highest PARP.
conclusionsOur findings suggest a significant relationship between early adversity, recent stressors, and depression here and throughout, consistent with the broader literature on predictors of depression. This study contributes to the limited data on college students' mental health in low and middle income countries including on the African continent. The findings provide information on the population level effect sizes of trauma as a risk factor for depression, as well as on the relationship between specific recent stressors and depression in college students.
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