(PS3-B38) Early Adversity and Depressive Symptoms Among Early Adolescent Girls: The Mediating Role of Exposure to Recent Interpersonal Acute Stress

           Although evidence suggests that early adversity confers risk for depression via its relation to recent (i.e., proximal) acute life stress (e.g., Hazel et al., 2008), questions remain. Specifically, it is unclear whether: 1) early adversity predicts growth in acute stress over time (i.e., increases accounting for prior levels) or acute stress continuity (i.e., stable levels of high acute stress); 2) the association between early adversity and depression is mediated by all, or only certain types of, acute stress; and 3) early adversity confers risk for depression via greater exposure to or generation of acute stress.

To increase our understanding of this developmental pathway, we examined three aims. First, we examined the prospective link between early adversity and depression. We predicted that adolescents with greater early adversity would develop greater depressive symptoms over time (e.g., LeMoult et al., 2020). Second, we examined recent acute interpersonal and non-interpersonal stress as mediators of the association between early adversity and later depression. Based upon interpersonal theories of depression (e.g., Hammen, 1991) and prior work (e.g., Vrshek-Schallhorn et al., 2015) underscoring the importance of interpersonal stress, we predicted that growth in recent acute interpersonal, but not non-interpersonal, stress would mediate the prospective association between early adversity and depression. Third, we explored whether the mediating effect of recent acute interpersonal stress differs for exposure to independent (i.e., fateful) stress versus generation of dependent (i.e., partially self-initiated) stress.

We examined these questions in a sample of 125 early adolescent girls (Mage=12.35 years [SD= .77], 80.8% white) who participated in a 3-wave longitudinal study. Participants completed contextual life stress interviews (Rudolph & Hammen, 1999) to assess early adversity and acute life stress, and diagnostic interviews (Kaufman et al., 1997). Path models were estimated using maximum likelihood estimation and bias-corrected bootstrapping tested indirect effects. Models were adjusted for pubertal status, maternal education, depression history, and prior levels of acute stress.

Findings did not support the prospective link between early adversity and depressive symptoms. However, growth in recent acute interpersonal stress (indirect effect: b = .14, p < .05), but not non-interpersonal stress (indirect effect: b = .00, p = ns), mediated the prospective link between early adversity and depressive symptoms. Further, results indicated that the mediating effect of acute interpersonal stress was limited to independent (indirect effect: b = .14, p < .01), not dependent (indirect effect: b = .03, p = ns), stress.

These results suggest that early adversity may not directly predict increases in future depressive symptoms. Instead, early adversity may confer risk for the development of depressive symptoms via growth in recent acute interpersonal stress. Findings also provide novel evidence that increases in exposure to, versus generation of, acute interpersonal stress mediate the prospective association between early adversity and depressive symptoms.