Specific correlation between childhood trauma and social cognition in Chinese Han first-episode, drug-naïve major depressive disorder

Abstract

Background: Childhood trauma (CT) is a significant factor affecting social cognition in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the relationship between CT, social cognition, and MDD is still not well-understood.

Methods: A total of 251 Han Chinese participants, comprising 117 first-episode drug-naïve MDD patients and 134 healthy controls (HCs), were recruited. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Interpersonal Reactivity Index-C (IRI), and Facial Emotion Recognition Test were used to measure CT and social cognition. Partial correlations were conducted to analyze the association between CT and social cognition.

Results: Our results showed that no significant correlation was observed between CTQ total score and social cognition in MDD (p > 0.05), while it was different in HCs (TAS-20 total score: r = 0.21, p = 0.016; difficulty identifying feelings (DIF): r = 0.219, p = 0.012; perspective-taking (PT): r = -0.214, p = 0.014; recognizing neutral facial emotions: r = -0.4, p < 0.001). CTQ subtyping analysis revealed that CTQ subscale scores in MDD were significantly correlated with PT, personal distress (PD), and recognizing angry facial emotions. Interestingly, physical abuse score was positively correlated with PT in MDD (r = 0.219, p = 0.019) but negatively with PT in HCs (r = -0.276, p = 0.001).

Limitations: Insufficient sample size and cross-sectional designs.

Conclusion: The correlation between CT and social cognition in MDD was weakened or reversed compared to HCs, highlighting the need for further investigation to determine the cause of this specific correlation.

Keywords: Alexithymia; Childhood trauma; Empathy; Facial emotion recognition; Major depressive disorders.