Prospective Associations between Childhood Exposure to Living with Adult Alcohol Misuse and Major Depressive Disorder in Adulthood: The Role of Child Maltreatment

Abstract

Background

Many children grow up with adult alcohol misuse in the home. A clearer understanding of this exposure’s long-term mental health consequences and the role of associated child maltreatment experiences and potential protective factors could guide relevant intervention strategies.

Objective

To prospectively evaluate the association between living with adult alcohol misuse during childhood and major depressive disorder (MDD) during adulthood; whether child maltreatment explains the association; and whether sex, school bonding, or neighborhood bonding moderate the association.

Participants and setting: This study used longitudinal data from 783 individuals followed from childhood to age 39.

Methods

At grade 9, participants were asked whether they lived with adults who misused alcohol. Diagnostic assessments of MDD were conducted across three time-points during participants’ thirties and participants were categorized as having met diagnostic criteria 0, 1, or 2 or more times.

Results

Ordinal logistic regressions found that children living with adult alcohol misuse showed greater chronicity of adult MDD (OR = 1.63; 95% CI: 1.05, 2.52). There was a 49% reduction in the odds ratio and the association was no longer statistically significant when child maltreatment was included in the model (OR = 1.32; 95% CI: 0.84, 2.07). No statistically significant moderation of associations was observed.

Conclusions

Children exposed to adult alcohol misuse, and maltreatment often associated with this misuse, may be at risk for mental health challenges well into adulthood. Interventions that address childhood exposure to adult alcohol misuse and associated maltreatment may be important to mitigate long-term mental health challenges to exposed children.

Keywords:

• Adverse childhood experiences
• alcohol misuse
• depression
• child maltreatment

Author contribution

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and analysis were performed by the first author. The first draft of the manuscript was written by the first author and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA; grant numbers R01DA033956 and R01DA009679). Content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies. NIDA played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; nor in the decision to submit the article for publication.