The relationship between vulnerability factors for depression: History of childhood trauma, cognitive reactivity and rumination

Traumatic childhood events, especially sexual, emotional and physical trauma, have been thought to induce cognitive vulnerability to major depressive disorder. Previous research has indicated that childhood trauma can affect the interpretation of future events, increase sensitivity to sad mood and thus contribute to the development of unhelpful cognitive processes. The aim of the present study was to examine the relation between two purported vulnerability factors, cognitive reactivity and rumination, to childhood trauma. Additionally, the evaluation of the severity of trauma and its effect on rumination tendencies and cognitive reactivity was examined. In this study, 114 participants were assessed on self-report measures of cognitive reactivity, rumination and specific traumatic childhood events. The hypotheses were partially supported. Individuals with a history of childhood trauma demonstrated more rumination tendencies and cognitive reactivity than those without such trauma. These results differed based on the type of childhood trauma experienced: Those who had been exposed to emotional abuse in childhood demonstrated more cognitive reactivity, but not rumination tendencies. Meanwhile, a history of either sexual or physical trauma was not predictive of increased rumination or cognitive reactivity. Finally, the severity of childhood trauma only predicted rumination tendencies for those who have experienced physical trauma in childhood. The results indicate that history of childhood trauma can induce cognitive reactivity and rumination which have been shown to increase the risk for depression. Longitudinal research is needed to further explore the relationship between cognitive reactivity, rumination and history of emotional abuse