Effects of childhood trauma on depression and cognitive function in first-diagnosed, drug-naïve depressed patients: an observational case-control study.

Background: Childhood trauma is associated with development of depression, yet a comprehensive investigation into the relationship between childhood trauma and depression severity, as well as cognitive impairment and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) levels remains to be fully explored.

Methods: A total of 97 patients undergoing first-diagnosed, drug-naïve depression and 60 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited in this study. The evaluation included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Hamilton depression scale (HAMD), Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA), Beck depression inventory (BDI), Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), Repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS) scores and n-3 PUFAs levels.

Results: Emotional abuse (p < 0.000), sexual abuse (p = 0.002) and CTQ total scores (p = 0.001) were significantly higher in first-diagnosed, drug-naïve depressed patients compared to healthy controls. Additionally, depressed patients with a history of childhood trauma exhibited higher scores on HAMA (p = 0.043), SAS (p = 0.009) and BDI (p = 0.032), along with lower eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) levels (p = 0.025). Subsequent analysis revealed positive correlations between CTQ total score and HAMA (p = 0.0389), SAS (p = 0.0112), HAMD (p = 0.0398) and BDI scores (p = 0.0323), and negative correlations with EPA level (p = -0.2843) and delayed memory (p = 0.0444), as determined by Pearson correlation analysis.

Conclusions: We report for the first time that first-diagnosed drug-naïve patients experienced more severe childhood trauma than healthy controls. Furthermore, depressed individuals with a history of childhood trauma exhibited more pronounced clinical characteristics of depression and lower level of EPA. Notably, childhood trauma was associated with depression severity, delayed memory impairment and lower EPA levels.