The Effect of Childhood Trauma on Personality in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Major Depressive Disorder

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-844647/v1

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The Effect of Childhood Trauma on Personality in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Major Depressive Disorder

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-844647/v1

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Objectives: This study is aimed to examine the potential association between childhood trauma (CT) and personality traits among unaffected first-degree relatives (FDR, children or siblings of patients) of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: The study consists of three groups: total 85 patients with MDD, 35 FDRs and 89 healthy control individuals (HC). The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was used to assess childhood trauma and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire used to assess personality traits.

Results: By comparison made in personality traits, MDD patients exhibits some significant disparities to FDR and HC (p<0.05 for extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism). Nevertheless, no significant difference was found between HC and FDR. In FDR group, patients with CT scored noticeably higher for neuroticism (N) compared with those without CT (F=3.246, p=0.046). CT was associated with N, psychoticism (P) and Lie (L), and it was associated with N more closely (r=0.290-0.452, p<0.05 for all). Significantly positive correlations were found between N and sexual abuse (SA), emotional neglect (EN), physical neglect (PN), and CTQ total (r=0.344-0.452, p<0.05); P and CTQ (r=0.336, p<0.05); and significant negative correlations between L and EN, CTQ (r=-0.446-0.375, p<0.05). EN contributed to a probability of N, P (R2=0.155-0.214, F=6.066-9.010, p=0.005-0.019) as well as a probability of L (R2=0.199, F=8.211, p=0.007).

Conclusion: CT was associated with N, P and L, with a closer relation to N in unaffected FDR. Besides, the type of CT, the most relevant to N, was discovered to be EN. Thus, FDR of MDD who experienced CT should be prioritized. Key words: childhood trauma; personality; major depressive disorder; first-degree relatives

Psychiatry

childhood trauma

personality

major depressive disorder

first-degree relatives

Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics of the three groups.

Characteristic	HC (n=89)	FDR (n=35)	MDD (n=85)		P
Gender (M/F)	37/52	15/20		39/46	0.845
Age (Y)	33.72±10.28	33.20±9.21	33.36±10.73		0.959
Education level (Y)	14.27±3.02	13.74±2.94	13.44±3.11		0.194
PHQ¹	3^a	3^b	10^c		<0.001^#, a, b<c
CTQ-SF	34.56±6.92^a	35.89±7.47^b	41.72±11.79^c		<0.001^#, a, b<c
EA	6.06±1.59^a	5.54±1.15^b	7.95±3.72^c		<0.001^#, a, b<c
PA	5.60±1.41^a	5.26±0.98^b	6.29±2.71^c		0.014^*, a, b<c
SA	5.38±0.96	5.71±1.64	5.88±2.66		0.227
EN	9.58±3.49^a	10.43±3.74^b	12.31±4.78^c		<0.001^#, a, b<c
PN	7.93±3.26^a	8.94±3.00^b	9.28±3.12^c		0.017^*, a<c
EPQ
E	57.77±9.43^a	55.43±11.75^b	45.38±9.80^c		<0.001^#, a, b>c
N	41.50±11.22^a	40.68±8.43^b	55.66±11.71^c		<0.001^#, a, b<c
P	46.64±9.71^a	45.64±13.16^b	50.49±9.38^c		0.016^*, a, b<c
L	47.20±9.59	47.23±11.84	45.60±9.58		0.520

Data presented as frequency (percentage) or mean ± standard deviation

Note. HC, healthy controls; FDR, first-degree relatives of patients with major depressive disorder; MDD, patients with major depressive disorder; M, male; F, female; Y, years; PHQ: Patient Health Questionnaire; CTQ-SF, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire short form; EPQ, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire; E, extraversion; N, neuroticism; P, psychoticism; L, lie;

1, Kruskal-Wallis Tests; a, healthy controls group; b, first-degree relatives of patients with major depressive disorder group; c, patients with major depressive disorder group;

* P<0.05, #P<0.01. After Bonferroni correction.

Table 2. Sociodemographic characteristics in FDR with and without CT.

Characteristic	With CT (n=15)	Without CT (n=20)	c²/t/u/F	P
Gender (M/F)	6/9	9/11	0.087	0.767
Age (Y)	37.33±8.72	30.10±8.50^*	2.464	0.019
Education level (Y)	12.87±2.88	14.40±2.89	-1.556	0.129
PHQ¹	3	2	102.5	0.114
EPQ
E	57.09±9.62	54.18±13.23	0.718	0.478
N²	44.43±7.89	37.87±7.86	3.246	0.046^*
P	48.43±18.41	43.55±7.01	1.091	0.283
L	46.03±13.24	48.13±10.95	-0.512	0.612

Data presented as frequency (percentage) or mean ± standard deviation

Note. HC, healthy controls; FDR, first-degree relatives of patients with major depressive disorder; MDD, patients with major depressive disorder; M, male; F, female; Y, years; PHQ: Patient Health Questionnaire; EPQ, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire; E, extraversion; N, neuroticism; P, psychoticism; L, lie;

1, Mann-Whitney U tests; 2, Covariance analysis * P<0.05, #P<0.01.

Table 3. Association between childhood maltreatment types and personality dimensions in FDR.

EPQ	EA	PA	SA	EN	PN	CTQ-SF
E	-.030	.220	.072	-.030	.032	.068
N	.159	.142	.344^*	.394^*	.393^*	.452^#
P	.224	.159	.189	.231	.292	.336^*
L	-.023	-.075	-.160	-.446^#	-.275	-.375^*

* P<0.05, #P<0.01. Pearson's correlation and Spearman's correlation were performed.

Table 4. Multiple linear regression analyses of abuse and neglect scores on the EPQ subscale in FDR.

EPQ subscale		B	*S. E*	Standardized coefficients Beta	t	P
N
	Constant	31.415	3.991		7.871	.000
	EN	.889	.361	.394	2.463	.019
P
	Constant	28.635	6.008		4.766	.000
	EN	1.631	.543	.463	3.002	.005
L
	Constant	61.988	5.462		11.349	.000
	EN	-1.415	.494	-.446	-2.866	.007

Note. EPQ, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire; EA, emotional abuse; PA, physical abuse; SA, sexual abuse; EN, emotional neglect; PN, physical neglect; CTQ-SF, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire short form; E, extraversion; N, neuroticism; P, psychoticism; L, lie. All input independent variables: EA, PA, SA, EN, PN; All input dependent variables: E(extraversion), N, P, L.E(extraversion) is not listed because no independent variables were included.

N: R² = .155, Adjusted R² = .130, F = 6.066, P=.019. P: R² = .214, Adjusted R² = .191, F = 9.010, P=.005. L: R² = .199, Adjusted R²= .175, F = 8.211, P=.007;

No competing interests reported.

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Editorial decision: Major revision
08 Nov, 2021
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Editor invited by journal
30 Sep, 2021
Submission checks completed at journal
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First submitted to journal
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The Effect of Childhood Trauma on Personality in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Major Depressive Disorder

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