By Murray Sherriffs
Researchers at McGill university have determined that women may be more likely than men to develop depression as adults, if they have had to endure childhood abuse.
Their findings suggest the biological pathways linking early trauma and depressive symptoms may differ by sex.
Co-author, Montreal’s Douglas Mental Health University Institute research associate Danusa Mar Arcego says that “…this association between childhood abuse and development of depression in women is important, because we could highlight more mechanisms involved with development of depression later in life.”
Co-author Carla Dalmaz, a visiting professor at the Douglas from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul says that the findings suggest that depression risk is shaped by how genes involved in synaptic function respond to early-life experiences and holds promise that synaptic function might be a promising target for future research.
