Association between adverse childhood events with depression and resilience among late adolescents and young adults

Background: While depression in children and adolescents can stem from several reasons, such as biological predispositions and environmental stressors, one of the significant and predominant contributors is adverse childhood events (ACE). Therefore, the present study tries to understand the association of adverse childhood events with depression and resilience among adolescents and young adults. Materials and Methods: This community-based cross-sectional study included 300 participants aged 14–24 years residing in urban, rural, and tribal areas. Data on ACEs, depression, and resilience were collected through the house-to-house interview using a standardized, predesigned, and validated questionnaire employing a simple random sampling method. Results: Our study found that 45.4% experienced depression at various levels. Resilience levels varied, with 40% of participants having low resilience, 59% normal resilience, and only 1% exhibited high resilience. Among ACEs, emotional abuse (44.7%) and neglect (71.7%) were most prevalent, while physical abuse (24%) and neglect (62.3%) were also reported. Statistical analysis showed significant associations between emotional abuse ( P < 0.001) and physical abuse ( P < 0.001) with depression. In urban and rural areas, physical abuse ( P = 0.001) was associated with depression, while in urban areas, physical neglect ( P = 0.001) also showed significant associations with depression. However, there was no significant association between emotional or physical neglect and resilience. Conclusion: The study revealed that there is an association between ACE with depression and resilience. Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between resilience and depression.