The long-term impact of childhood sexual assault on depression and self-reported mental and physical health
BackgroundChildhood trauma, including sexual assault (CSA), is a known risk factor for adverse mental health outcomes. This study quantifies the impact of CSA on the likelihood of being diagnosed with depression in adulthood, as well as its influence on poor mental and physical health days.MethodsWe...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1528914/full |
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| author | Oluwasegun Akinyemi Temitope Ogundare Mojisola Fasokun Fadeke Ogunyankin Nkemdirim Ugochukwu Walia Ajisafe Seun Ikugbayigbe Oluebubechukwu Eze Kakra Hughes Miriam Michael |
| author_facet | Oluwasegun Akinyemi Temitope Ogundare Mojisola Fasokun Fadeke Ogunyankin Nkemdirim Ugochukwu Walia Ajisafe Seun Ikugbayigbe Oluebubechukwu Eze Kakra Hughes Miriam Michael |
| author_sort | Oluwasegun Akinyemi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundChildhood trauma, including sexual assault (CSA), is a known risk factor for adverse mental health outcomes. This study quantifies the impact of CSA on the likelihood of being diagnosed with depression in adulthood, as well as its influence on poor mental and physical health days.MethodsWe analyzed data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) (2016–2023), comprising 321,106 respondents. The primary exposure was self-reported CSA, while the main outcomes were depression diagnosis, poor mental health days, and poor physical health days. Covariates included race, gender, marital status, employment, age, education, state, year, language spoken at home, metropolitan status, and urban residence. We employed Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) to estimate the Average Treatment Effect (ATE), controlling for confounders and incorporating state and year fixed effects. Sampling weights ensured national representativeness, and robust standard errors accounted for clustering by state.ResultsIn a matched cohort of 15,150 individuals with CSA and 15,150 controls, the CSA group had an average age of 50.3 ± 16.3 years, with most being White (69.3%) and female (76.7%). CSA was significantly associated with an increased risk of depression diagnosis, with a 22.1 percentage-point increase for those with one CSA experience (ATE = 0.221, 95% CI: 0.192–0.250, p < 0.001) and a 24.4 percentage-point increase for those with multiple CSA experiences (ATE = 0.244, 95% CI: 0.222–0.266, p < 0.001). CSA also impacted mental health. Those with a single CSA exposure reported 2.8 more days of poor mental health per month (ATE = 2.829, 95% CI: 2.096–3.398, p < 0.001), while those with multiple exposures reported 4.2 more days (ATE = 4.175, 95% CI: 3.609–4.740, p < 0.001) compared to controls. Regarding physical health, individuals with one CSA exposure reported 1.5 additional poor physical health days (ATE = 1.538, 95% CI: 0.788–2.289), while those with multiple exposures experienced 2.6 additional days (ATE = 2.587, 95% CI: 1.941–3.232).ConclusionThis study provides robust evidence that CSA significantly increases the likelihood of depression in adulthood and leads to more poor mental and physical health days. The findings underscore the cumulative impact of multiple CSA exposures on health outcomes and emphasize the need for trauma-informed healthcare, early intervention, and public health strategies to mitigate the long-term consequences of CSA. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bddea89847b64c0480b0e668c26efcf8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj-art-bddea89847b64c0480b0e668c26efcf82025-01-23T06:56:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402025-01-011510.3389/fpsyt.2024.15289141528914The long-term impact of childhood sexual assault on depression and self-reported mental and physical healthOluwasegun Akinyemi0Temitope Ogundare1Mojisola Fasokun2Fadeke Ogunyankin3Nkemdirim Ugochukwu4Walia Ajisafe5Seun Ikugbayigbe6Oluebubechukwu Eze7Kakra Hughes8Miriam Michael9College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC, United StatesChobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, MA, United StatesEpidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United StatesResearch Data Science and Analytics, Cook Children’s Health Care System, Fort Wort, TX, United StatesCollege of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC, United StatesCollege of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC, United StatesBiological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, United StatesCollege of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC, United StatesCollege of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC, United StatesCollege of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC, United StatesBackgroundChildhood trauma, including sexual assault (CSA), is a known risk factor for adverse mental health outcomes. This study quantifies the impact of CSA on the likelihood of being diagnosed with depression in adulthood, as well as its influence on poor mental and physical health days.MethodsWe analyzed data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) (2016–2023), comprising 321,106 respondents. The primary exposure was self-reported CSA, while the main outcomes were depression diagnosis, poor mental health days, and poor physical health days. Covariates included race, gender, marital status, employment, age, education, state, year, language spoken at home, metropolitan status, and urban residence. We employed Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) to estimate the Average Treatment Effect (ATE), controlling for confounders and incorporating state and year fixed effects. Sampling weights ensured national representativeness, and robust standard errors accounted for clustering by state.ResultsIn a matched cohort of 15,150 individuals with CSA and 15,150 controls, the CSA group had an average age of 50.3 ± 16.3 years, with most being White (69.3%) and female (76.7%). CSA was significantly associated with an increased risk of depression diagnosis, with a 22.1 percentage-point increase for those with one CSA experience (ATE = 0.221, 95% CI: 0.192–0.250, p < 0.001) and a 24.4 percentage-point increase for those with multiple CSA experiences (ATE = 0.244, 95% CI: 0.222–0.266, p < 0.001). CSA also impacted mental health. Those with a single CSA exposure reported 2.8 more days of poor mental health per month (ATE = 2.829, 95% CI: 2.096–3.398, p < 0.001), while those with multiple exposures reported 4.2 more days (ATE = 4.175, 95% CI: 3.609–4.740, p < 0.001) compared to controls. Regarding physical health, individuals with one CSA exposure reported 1.5 additional poor physical health days (ATE = 1.538, 95% CI: 0.788–2.289), while those with multiple exposures experienced 2.6 additional days (ATE = 2.587, 95% CI: 1.941–3.232).ConclusionThis study provides robust evidence that CSA significantly increases the likelihood of depression in adulthood and leads to more poor mental and physical health days. The findings underscore the cumulative impact of multiple CSA exposures on health outcomes and emphasize the need for trauma-informed healthcare, early intervention, and public health strategies to mitigate the long-term consequences of CSA.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1528914/fulladverse childhood experiencesdepressionchildhood sexual assaultself-reported mental healthself-reported physical healthinverse probability weighting |
| spellingShingle | Oluwasegun Akinyemi Temitope Ogundare Mojisola Fasokun Fadeke Ogunyankin Nkemdirim Ugochukwu Walia Ajisafe Seun Ikugbayigbe Oluebubechukwu Eze Kakra Hughes Miriam Michael The long-term impact of childhood sexual assault on depression and self-reported mental and physical health Frontiers in Psychiatry adverse childhood experiences depression childhood sexual assault self-reported mental health self-reported physical health inverse probability weighting |
| title | The long-term impact of childhood sexual assault on depression and self-reported mental and physical health |
| title_full | The long-term impact of childhood sexual assault on depression and self-reported mental and physical health |
| title_fullStr | The long-term impact of childhood sexual assault on depression and self-reported mental and physical health |
| title_full_unstemmed | The long-term impact of childhood sexual assault on depression and self-reported mental and physical health |
| title_short | The long-term impact of childhood sexual assault on depression and self-reported mental and physical health |
| title_sort | long term impact of childhood sexual assault on depression and self reported mental and physical health |
| topic | adverse childhood experiences depression childhood sexual assault self-reported mental health self-reported physical health inverse probability weighting |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1528914/full |
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