Childhood Experiences and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in Adulthood: Findings from 22 Countries in the Global Flourishing Study

Background: Relatively few studies have examined the associations between childhood experiences and symptoms of depression and anxiety in adulthood in different nations and cultures using nationally-representative data. Methods: This study addresses this limitation by analyzing the first wave of data from the Global Flourishing Study (GFS), a survey of 202,898 individuals from 22 geographically, economically, and culturally diverse countries collected in 2022-2023. Findings: Random effects meta-analyses of all countries combined showed that father-child relations, parent marital status, economic conditions, abuse and feeling like an outsider, childhood health, birth cohort, and gender were associated with depression and anxiety symptoms in adulthood. There was less evidence for mother-child relations, immigration status, and childhood religious service attendance when the results were pooled, but these factors were important in one or more countries. Considerable heterogeneity existed across countries, suggesting that these relationships are shaped by local contexts. E-values indicated that some strongest associations were fairly robust against potential unmeasured confounding. Interpretation: These results suggest significant associations between a variety of childhood experiences and adult depression and anxiety in many countries. They also demonstrate considerable variation in these associations across nations. This study lays the foundation for future longitudinal examinations of childhood factors and adult mental health from a global perspective. Funding: The Global Flourishing Study was generously funded by the John Templeton Foundation, Templeton Religion Trust, Templeton World Charity Foundation, Well-Being for Planet Earth, Fetzer Institute, Well Being Trust, Paul L. Foster Family Foundation, and the David & Carol Myers Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations. The funding sources had no impact on the: (a) study design; (b) collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; (c) writing of the manuscript; or (d) publication-related decisions.