| Title: | Mitigating the risk of depression from childhood adversity: The protective role of a healthy lifestyle |
| Journal: | Journal of Affective Disorders |
| Published: | 15 Dec 2025 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41407115/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.120919 |
Publication 17141
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Childhood adversity is a well-established risk factor for depression in later life. However, the potential protective role of healthy lifestyle factors remains less understood. This prospective cohort study investigated the associations between childhood adversity, a healthy lifestyle, and the incidence of depression.</p>
METHODS: We used data from 137,261 participants in the UK Biobank. Childhood adversity was self-reported, and a healthy lifestyle was defined by six factors: physical activity, healthy diet, sleep, smoking, alcohol consumption, and leisure/social activity. Cox proportional hazards models estimated adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for depression incidence.</p>
RESULTS: 45.1 % of participants reported childhood adversity. Compared to those with no adversity, individuals with any type of childhood adversity had a 67 % higher risk of depression (aHR = 1.67, 95 % CI: 1.58-1.77). Emotional abuse (aHR = 1.93) and emotional neglect (aHR = 1.92) showed the strongest associations. We found a significant dose-response relationship: participants with four or more healthy lifestyle factors had a significantly lower risk of depression (aHR = 0.52, 95 % CI: 0.44-0.62), a protective effect consistent across all adversity types. The strongest protective factors were ideal sleep (aHR = 0.70), never smoking (aHR = 0.81), and ideal leisure/social activity (aHR = 0.83).</p>
CONCLUSION: Our findings confirm childhood adversity as a strong risk factor for depression and, importantly, demonstrate that a healthier lifestyle significantly mitigates this risk. These results highlight the potential for integrating lifestyle-based interventions into depression treatment and prevention, especially for individuals with a history of early-life trauma.</p>
17 Keywords
- Adult
- Adverse Childhood Experiences
- Aged
- Depression
- Exercise
- Female
- Healthy Lifestyle
- Humans
- Life Style
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Proportional Hazards Models
- Prospective Studies
- Protective Factors
- Risk Factors
- Smoking
- United Kingdom
9 Authors
- Yue Huang
- Xianzhu Cong
- Yiyu Zhang
- Linrui Xu
- Na Sun
- Yujia Kong
- Honghui Yao
- Fuyan Shi
- Suzhen Wang
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health