Childhood maltreatment exposure is differentially associated with transdiagnostic perinatal depression symptoms.

History of childhood maltreatment (CM) is common and robustly associated with prenatal and postpartum (perinatal) depression. Given perinatal depression symptom heterogeneity, a transdiagnostic approach to measurement could enhance understanding of patterns between CM and perinatal depression.
Methods: In two independently collected samples of women receiving care at perinatal psychiatry clinics (n = 523 and n = 134), we categorized longitudinal symptoms of perinatal depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep into transdiagnostic factors derived from the Research Domain Criteria and depression literatures. We split the perinatal period into four time points. We conducted a latent profile analysis of transdiagnostic factors in each period. We then used self-reported history of CM (total exposure and subtypes of abuse and neglect) to predict class membership.
Results: A three-class solution best fit our data. In relation to positive adaptive functioning, one class had relatively more positive symptoms (high adaptive), one class had average values (middle adaptive), and one class had fewer adaptive symptoms (low adaptive). More total CM and specific subtypes associated with threat/abuse increased an individual's likelihood of being in the Low Adaptive class in both samples (ORs: 0.90-0.97, p < .05).
Limitations: Generalizability of our results was curtailed by 1) limited racial/ethnic diversity and 2) missing data.
Conclusions: Our results support taking a person-centered approach to characterize the relationship between perinatal depression and childhood maltreatment. Given evidence that increased exposure to childhood maltreatment is associated with worse overall symptoms, providers should consider incorporating preventative, transdiagnostic interventions for perinatal distress in individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Pingeton, Dr. Nieser, Dr. Cochran, Dr. Goodman, Dr. Laurent, and Ms. Sbrilli have no conflicts of interest. Ms. Knight's adult son is employed by GlaxoSmithKline and has stock options as part of his employment. Dr. Newport has received research support from Eli Lilly, Glaxo SmithKline (GSK), Janssen, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Navitor, Sage Therapeutics, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the Texas Health & Human Services Commission, and Wyeth. He has served on speakers' bureaus and/or received honoraria from Astra-Zeneca, Eli Lilly, GSK, Pfizer and Wyeth. He has served on advisory boards for GSK, Janssen, Merck, and Sage Therapeutics. He has served as a consultant to Sage Therapeutics. Neither he nor family members have ever held equity positions in biomedical or pharmaceutical corporations. Dr. Stowe has received research support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC). He has recently served on advisory boards for Sage Therapeutics, and Reunion Neuroscience. He has received remuneration for NIH grant reviews, and external promotion reviews for other academic institutions. He previously served on speakers' bureaus and/or advisory boards (prior to 2007) from Eli Lilly, GSK, Pfizer, Forest Laboratories, BMS, and Wyeth. Neither he nor his family members have ever held equity positions in biomedical or pharmaceutical corporations.
(Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)