BACKGROUND There is ample evidence showing that childhood maltreatment (CM) is a risk factor for the development of depression in adulthood. However, little is known about the psychological processes mediating this relationship. This study used a large community sample to investigate the mediating role of emotional, cognitive and/or interpersonal dysfunctions on the one hand and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms on the other hand. METHODS One thousand twenty seven participants of a community sample filled out an online survey. Mediation analyses were computed via linear structural equation modelling. RESULTS Results showed a significant mediation of the association between CM and adult depression via emotional impairments, depressogenic attribution style and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Our study design was cross-sectional and therefore did not allow testing temporal precedence of mediators and causality. Data was collected retrospectively, a confounding effect of current depressive symptoms on retrospective recall of CM therefore cannot be ruled out. CONCLUSIONS The a priori mediation model showed a good fit with the data. The model suggests promising objectives for further research on CM-related depression and potential treatment targets in the future.

中文翻译：

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儿童虐待与成人抑郁症之间的关联：中介分析。

背景有充足的证据表明，儿童期虐待（CM）是成年后患抑郁症的危险因素。然而，人们对调节这种关系的心理过程知之甚少。这项研究使用大量社区样本，一方面调查情绪、认知和/或人际功能障碍的中介作用，另一方面调查创伤后应激障碍症状的中介作用。方法 社区样本的 127 名参与者填写了在线调查。通过线性结构方程模型计算中介分析。结果 结果显示，CM 与成人抑郁症之间的关联通过情绪障碍、抑郁归因方式和创伤后应激障碍症状发挥显着中介作用。我们的研究设计是横断面的，因此不允许测试中介因素和因果关系的时间优先性。数据是回顾性收集的，因此不能排除当前抑郁症状对 CM 回顾性回忆的混杂影响。结论 先验中介模型与数据吻合良好。该模型为 CM 相关抑郁症的进一步研究和未来潜在的治疗目标提出了有希望的目标。