Long term effects of abuse in early life on depression and anxiety over the life course

INTRODUCTION:  Long term impact of abuse on early life is still under discussion. We aimed to systematically assess epidemiological and clinical evidence on the relation of abuse in early life abuse and depression and anxiety based on community samples, worldwide. METHODS:  We performed a systematic search of the electronic databases (from August 2011-October 2011, all age groups, any language, any population) of three databases: PUBMED, EMBASE and PSYCHINFO. Data were extracted after consideration of exclusion criteria and quality assessment, and then compiled into summary tables. To quantify the association of abuse with depression and anxiety we performed a meta-analysis and calculated pooled odds ratios (ORs) with respective 95% confidence intervals (CI).   The I² statistic was used to assess heterogeneity. RESULTS:  The search yielded 29 eligible studies with 139,625 participants. There was a statistically significant association between abuse and lifetime psychiatric symptoms of depression (sexual abuse: OR=2.16; 95%CI 1.62-2.87;   physical abuse: OR=1.71; 95%CI: 1.39-2.09) and anxiety (sexual abuse: OR=2.42; 95%CI 1.96-2.99; physical abuse: OR=1.90; 95%CI 1.13-3.20). CONCLUSIONS:  Associations persisted over the life course with peaks in younger and older age groups (age 18-30, over age 60).