Objective:

To identify psychosocial factors associated with depression in a susceptible patient population.

Material and

Methods: Cross-sectional study in 347 depressed and 168 non-depressed patients who attended the Nampula Central Hospital, Mozambique, between February 2014 and November 2016. Sociodemographic variables as well as early and current adverse events were studied. The associations between all variables and depression were subjected to bivariate analyses with Chi square test and odds ratio test.

Results:

A significant association (p<0,05) was found between depressive disorder and socio-demographic factors such as 34 years of age or less, single or divorced status, unemployment and having none to two children. The mean number of current adverse events in depressed patients was 2.4, and 0.6 in those non-depressed. Early adverse events such as interparental violence and the death of one of the parents were associated with adult depression in adulthood and a 5-fold increase in the likelihood of experiencing depression, while experiencing 2 or more current events in the current time resulted in the same. The most frequent were interpersonal conflicts and suffering from a physical illness.

Conclusions:

Adverse childhood experiences and a variety of current life events occur more frequently in patients with depressive disorders than in patients without depression, thus confirming its role as psychosocial risk factors.

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