Childhood abuse increases the risk of depressive and anxiety symptoms and history of suicidal behavior in Mexican pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the relationship between individual and co-occurring childhood sexual, physical, and verbal abuse, prenatal depressive (PDS) and anxiety symptoms (PAS), and history of suicidal behavior (HSB) among Mexican pregnant women at risk of depression.

METHODS

A sample of 357 women screened for PDS was interviewed using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA-Q), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), the anxiety subscale of the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (SCL-90), and specific questions on verbal abuse and HSB.

RESULTS

Logistic regression analyses showed that women who had experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA) were 2.60 times more likely to develop PDS, 2.58 times more likely to develop PAS, and 3.71 times more likely to have HSB. Childhood physical abuse (CPA) increased the risk of PAS (odds ratio [OR] = 2.51) and HSB (OR = 2.62), while childhood verbal abuse (CVA) increased PDS (OR = 1.92). Experiencing multiple abuses increased the risk of PDS (OR = 3.01), PAS (OR = 3.73), and HSB (OR = 13.73).

CONCLUSIONS

Childhood sexual, physical, and verbal abuse, especially when they co-occur, have an impact on PDS and PAS and lifetime HSB. These findings suggest that pregnant women at risk for depression should also be screened for trauma as a risk factor for perinatal psychopathology.