Early life adversity and blunted cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress: The role of current depressive symptoms

Objective: The pathways underlying the early life adversity and cardiovascular reactivity association remain unclear. The current study examined the role of current depressive symptoms on this relationship. Methods: Mediation analyses were conducted using data from 639 participants drawn from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II) Biomarker Project. Responses were derived from the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire [CTQ] and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D]). Participants had their systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) and heart rate (HR) monitored throughout a standardized stress testing protocol. Results: The association between early life adversity and reactivity was mediated by current depressive symptoms; all adversity factors were linked to higher levels of current depressive symptoms, which in turn, were associated with lower cardiovascular reactivity. For emotional abuse, this was noted for SBP (β = -.06, 95% CI [-.13,-.01]; and DBP: β = - .04, [-.07,-.01]), physical abuse (SBP: β = -.05, [-.11,-.01]; DBP: β = -.03, [-.06,-.01]), sexual abuse (SBP: β = -.04, [-.09,-.01]; DBP: β = -.02, [-.05,-.01]), emotional neglect (SBP: β = -.04, [-.09,-.01]; DBP: β = -.02, [-.05,-.01]), physical neglect (SBP: β = -.09, [-.17,-.02]; DBP: β = -.05, [-.09,-.02]) and total CTQ (SBP: β = -.02, [-.03,-.00]; DBP: β = -.01, [-.02,-.00]). Conclusions: The present findings extend research and demonstrate that depression is an underlying mechanism linking early life adversity and blunted cardiovascular reactivity.