Childhood abuse and late-life depression: Mediating effects of psychosocial factors for early- and late-onset depression

Objective: Childhood abuse makes people vulnerable to developing depression, even in late life. Psychosocial factors that are common in late life, such as loneliness or lack of a partner, may explain this association. Our aim was to investigate whether the association between childhood abuse and depression in older adults can be explained by psychosocial factors. Methods: Cross-sectional data were derived from the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older Persons (aged 60-93), including 132 without lifetime depression, 242 persons with an early-onset depression (