Abstract
Patients with alcohol dependence and depressive disorder are known to report a higher number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and show differences in reproductive history compared to the general population. Males and females differ in both prevalence of ACEs and their way of coping with them. The present study tested the indirect effects of ACEs (measured by graded and cumulative effects, i.e., ≥ 4 vs. ˂ 4 of 13 ACE categories and by childhood physical and sexual abuse alone) on reproductive history (age at first intercourse, lifetime number of sex partners, age at first pregnancy, planning the first pregnancy, lifetime number of pregnancies, lifetime number of children, ever getting married, age at first marriage) mediated by alcohol dependence, depressive disorder, and lack of psychiatric history in 126 adult females. Six significant mediation models were found for the indirect effect of ACEs (graded and cumulative effect and childhood physical abuse alone) on age at first intercourse via alcohol dependence and lack of psychiatric history. Path analyses showed that alcohol dependence was a partial mediator and lack of psychiatric history was a complete mediator between ACEs’ graded and cumulative effects on age at first intercourse. The mediating effects of alcohol dependence and lack of psychiatric history were complete for direct effects between physical abuse and age at first intercourse. This study is the first to document the indirect role of ACEs on age at first intercourse via alcohol dependence and lack of psychiatric history in adult females.
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Data and Materials Availability
The datasets used and analyzed in the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Professor Vincent J Felitti (Department of Preventive Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program; University of California, San Diego, CA, USA) for his encouragement and support during the study.
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D.B. designed and performed the study, interpreted the results, wrote the first and final draft of the manuscript, and approved the final version of the manuscript.
M.W. critically reviewed and edited the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the local bioethics committee: Nos. RNN/467/13/KB and KB/843/13/P.
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Berent, D., Wojnar, M. The Role of Alcohol Dependence and Depressive Disorder in Childhood Adversities and Reproductive History Traits in Inpatient Women: a Mediation Analyses. Int J Ment Health Addiction 20, 3086–3112 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00567-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00567-2