TY - JOUR
T1 - Stressful life events and trajectories of depression symptoms in a U.S. military cohort
AU - Sampson, Laura
AU - Cabral, Howard J.
AU - Rosellini, Anthony J.
AU - Gradus, Jaimie L.
AU - Cohen, Gregory H.
AU - Fink, David S.
AU - King, Anthony P.
AU - Liberzon, Israel
AU - Galea, Sandro
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge Bobby L. Jones for assistance with interpreting trajectory analyses. This work was supported by the Department of Defense [W81XWH-15-1-0080]. L. Sampson is supported by the National Institutes of Health [T32 HL098048].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/6/30
Y1 - 2022/6/30
N2 - Depression is a common mental disorder that may comprise distinct, underlying symptom patterns over time. Associations between stressful life events throughout the civilian lifecourse—including during childhood—and adult depression have been documented in many populations, but are less commonly assessed in military samples. We identified different trajectories of depression symptoms across four years in a military cohort using latent class growth analysis, and investigated the relationship between these trajectories and two domains of civilian life experiences: childhood adversity (e.g., being mistreated during childhood) and more proximal stressful experiences (e.g., divorce). A four-group depression model was identified, including a symptom-free group (62%), an increasing symptom group (13%), a decreasing symptom group (16%), and a “chronic” symptom group (9%). Compared to the symptom-free group, soldiers with childhood adversity were more likely to be in the chronic depression, decreasing, and increasing symptom groups. Time-varying adult stressors had the largest effect on depression symptoms for the increasing symptom group compared to other groups, particularly in the last two years of follow-up. This study indicates the importance of considering events from throughout the lifecourse—not only those from deployment—when studying the mental health of servicemembers.
AB - Depression is a common mental disorder that may comprise distinct, underlying symptom patterns over time. Associations between stressful life events throughout the civilian lifecourse—including during childhood—and adult depression have been documented in many populations, but are less commonly assessed in military samples. We identified different trajectories of depression symptoms across four years in a military cohort using latent class growth analysis, and investigated the relationship between these trajectories and two domains of civilian life experiences: childhood adversity (e.g., being mistreated during childhood) and more proximal stressful experiences (e.g., divorce). A four-group depression model was identified, including a symptom-free group (62%), an increasing symptom group (13%), a decreasing symptom group (16%), and a “chronic” symptom group (9%). Compared to the symptom-free group, soldiers with childhood adversity were more likely to be in the chronic depression, decreasing, and increasing symptom groups. Time-varying adult stressors had the largest effect on depression symptoms for the increasing symptom group compared to other groups, particularly in the last two years of follow-up. This study indicates the importance of considering events from throughout the lifecourse—not only those from deployment—when studying the mental health of servicemembers.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-022-14496-0
DO - 10.1038/s41598-022-14496-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 35773360
AN - SCOPUS:85133130606
VL - 12
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
IS - 1
M1 - 11026
ER -