GBD 2021 explored intimate partner violence, childhood sexual abuse, and bullying victimization as risk factors for MDD.9 Combined, these explained 16.1% (8.6–24.5%) of total MDD DALYs globally in 2021.9 But not all individual- and population-level stressors of MDD have been formally assessed in this way; further development in the underlying epidemiological data available on these stressors and their impact of MDD is required to facilitate this.9,10
References:
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2.Medeiros GC, Prueitt WL, Minhajuddin A, et al. Childhood maltreatment and impact on clinical features of major depression in adults. Psychiatry Res 2020; 293: 113412.
3.Watson CB, Bitsika V. Intimate partner violence and subsequent depression in women: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Brain Behav 2025; 15 (1): e70236.
4.Jadambaa A, Thomas HJ, Scott JG, et al. The contribution of bullying victimisation to the burden of anxiety and depressive disorders in Australia. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci 2019; 29: e54.
5.Santomauro DF, Whiteford HA, Ferrari AJ. Depression and anxiety during COVID-19 – Authors’ reply. Lancet 2022; 399 (10324): 518–519.
6.Charlson F, van Ommeren M, Flaxman A, et al. New WHO prevalence estimates of mental disorders in conflict settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet 2019; 394 (10194): 240–248.
7.Zhou J, Zhang Y, He S, et al. Accelerated global burden of depressive disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2019 to 2021. Sci Rep 2025; 15 (1): 9529.
8.Huang H-Y, Chao T-Y, Huang Y-Y, et al. Increase in short-term and long-term stress-associated mental illness after Jiji earthquake in Taiwan: A twenty-year longitudinal population-based cohort study. J Affect Disord 2025; 368: 757–769.
9.GBD 2021 Risk Factors Collaborators. Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Lancet 2024; 403 (10440): 2162–2203.
10.GBD 2019 Mental Disorders Collaborators. Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet Psychiatry 2022; 9 (2): 137–150.
