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Background: Childhood adversity is related to poor mental health outcomes in adulthood. However, few studies have examined the epidemiology of major childhood adversities and their effects on depression and suicide attempts in Chinese college students.Methods: 2755 students completed a questionnaire of 10 items about major childhood adversities, one item about suicide attempts, and the Zung self-rating depression scale. Single-factor analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to explore the association between different types of adversity/different numbers of types of adversity and suicide attempts/depression.Results: 1916 (69.55%) respondents reported they had experienced major childhood adversities. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that witnessing a crash or murder, abuse by family members, and abuse by other adults or children were positively related to suicide attempts (OR: 1.712-2.222, all p<0.05). Abuse by other adults or children (OR=1.648, p<0.05) and serious injury during childhood (OR=1.494, p<0.05) were risk factors for depression. Those who had experienced 3 or more types of adversity were more likely to have depression (OR=1.806, p=0.002)and to have committed suicide attempts (OR= 3.307,p<0.001)compared to those without any adversities.Conclusion: The incidence of major childhood adversity is high among Chinese college students. Childhood adversity increases the risk of depression and suicide attempts. As the number of types of childhood adversity experienced by an individual increases, their risk ratio for suicide attempts and depression increases. To promote mental health, special attention should be given to those who have suffered childhood adversities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Childhood trauma is associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) in adults. However, no meta-analysis was performed on the prevalence of different types of childhood trauma in adults with affective disorders, using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ).Methods: Four databases were used to search articles regarding the prevalence of childhood emotional abuse (CEA), childhood physical abuse (CPA), childhood sexual abuse (CSA), childhood physical neglect (CPN), and childhood emotional neglect (CEN) in patients with MDD and BD using the CTQ.Results: A total of 17 and 11 articles were found analyzing patients with MDD and BD, respectively. A pooled prevalence rate of 33.0% and 30.0% for CEA, 17.0% and 18.0% for CPA, 19.0% and 22.0% for CSA, 37.0% and 31.0% for CEN, and 31% and 30.0% for CPN was found in patients with MDD and BD respectively. A difference in 95% confidence interval in the CSA rate between men and women was found in patients with MDD in the gender subgroup and in the rate of some types of childhood trauma in the continent subgroup in both patient types.Limitations: A limited number of articles were included in some continents, thus, the heterogeneity in the meta-analysis was generally high.Conclusion: The prevalence of CEA, CEN, and CPN in patients with affective disorders was relatively high, whereas that of CPA and CSA was relatively low. These childhood traumas might be affected by continent and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]