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Depression shapes the recall of adverse childhood experiences: evidence from a three-wave longitudinal study of 6,260 Chinese adolescents

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Abstract

Depression is a major mental health concern among adolescents, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known risk factors. However, how depression affects the recall of ACEs remains unclear. Using three waves of data from 6,260 Chinese adolescents in the Developmental & Emotional Pathways in Transition to Adulthood Study, we examine the bidirectional relationship between depression and ACE recall. Depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory-II and ACEs with an adapted ACE scale, controlling for sociodemographic factors. Random intercept cross-lagged panel model analyses show that, within individuals, baseline depressive symptoms predict increased subsequent recall of ACEs, whereas ACE recall did not predict later depression. Cross-lagged panel network analysis identified punishment feelings, fatigue and emotional neglect as key nodes linking depression and ACE recall. These findings indicate that depression can reshape autobiographical memory of adversity, probably via negative emotional processing and memory bias. This highlights the need to account for depression-driven distortions when assessing trauma history, and suggests that alleviating depressive symptoms may reduce trauma-related distress.

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Fig. 1: Final model of RI-CLPM.
Fig. 2: CLPNs and bridge expected influence.
Fig. 3: Outgoing and ingoing expected influence of networks.
Fig. 4: Data selection process and participant characteristics across waves.

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Data availability

The data supporting the main findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to compliance with the laws of the People’s Republic of China and approval from the Human Research Ethics Committees of South China Normal University. The data are not publicly available owing to their sensitive nature and the potential for identification, which could compromise research participant privacy.

Code availability

The R code used for data processing and statistical analyses in this study has been deposited in Zenodo and is publicly available for replication purposes (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17649422)95. No custom algorithms were developed, and all analyses were conducted using standard functions from publicly available R packages.

Change history

  • 21 January 2026

    In the version of the article initially published, in the Acknowledgements section, the last digit was inadvertently omitted from the Research Center for Brain Cognition and Human Development, Guangdong, China grant no. 2024B0303390003 which has now been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

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Acknowledgements

All funding sources have been acknowledged. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 82201708 and 32571271 to Y.W.; grant 32371098 to Q.M.), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (grant 2025A1515011554 to Y.W.; grant 2024A1515011429 to Q.M.), Guangdong Philosophy and Social Science Foundation (grant GD25YXL09 to Y.W.), Guangzhou Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project (grant 2025GZYB21 to Y.W.), the Research Center for Brain Cognition and Human Development, Guangdong, China (grant 2024B0303390003 to Y.W.), and the Striving for the First-Class, Improving Weak Links and Highlighting Features (SIH) Key Discipline for Psychology at South China Normal University. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Zheng Zhang, Chuantao Zhou.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

    Zheng Zhang, Chuantao Zhou, Runjia Zhang, Yangyang Tang, Yange Zhang, Pengmin Qin, Binyuan Su & Yuanyuan Wang

  2. Counseling and Psychological Services, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

    Yange Zhang & Binyuan Su

  3. Pazhou Lab, Guangzhou, China

    Pengmin Qin

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Contributions

Z.Z. and C.Z. contributed to conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, visualization, writing of the original draft, and review and editing. R.Z. contributed to validation, and review and editing. Y.T. contributed to visualization, and review and editing. Y.Z. contributed to data curation and resources. P.Q. provided supervision and contributed to the methodology. B.S. provided supervision and resources. Y.W. contributed to conceptualization, supervision, funding acquisition and resources.

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Correspondence to Pengmin Qin, Binyuan Su or Yuanyuan Wang.

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Zhang, Z., Zhou, C., Zhang, R. et al. Depression shapes the recall of adverse childhood experiences: evidence from a three-wave longitudinal study of 6,260 Chinese adolescents. Nat. Mental Health (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00580-7

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