Latent Classes of Adverse Childhood Experiences in a Nationally Representative Chilean Sample: Associations with Depression, Suicidal Ideation, and Gender
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2025
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are linked to negativemental health outcomes, yet their co-occurrence remainsunderstudied, particularly in Latin America and Chile. This cross-sectional study applied Latent Class Analysis (LCA) toa nationally representative Chilean sample of adults aged 18to 65 (N = 2,101). The objective was to identify distinct ACEsubgroups and examine their associations with depressivesymptomatology, suicidal ideation and gender differences.Depressive symptoms were measured using the PHQ-9, andlifetime suicidal ideation was assessed via a single-item ques-tion. A four-class solution emerged: (1) low adversity, (2) mediumadversity, (3) high adversity marked by abuse and violence, and (4)polytrauma. Two high-adversity classes comprised 40% of thesample and were associated with significantly elevated risks ofdepression (OR = 10.62; 95% CI: 6.04–18.68) and suicidal idea-tion (OR = 31.61; 95% CI: 10.61–94.16). Gender differences wereobserved, with women overrepresented in the abuse-focusedclass and men in the medium adversity class.
Description
Keywords
Adverse childhood experiences, Depression, Latent class analysis, LatinAmerica, Suicide ideation