Role of early life stress in treatment resistant depression

The aim of the project is to analyse the influence of different subtypes of early life stress in treatment resistant depression (TRD). ELS is also associated with the severity and chronicity of depression. The bulk of the literature on ELS focussed on mood disorder in general, while the role of childhood difficulties in TRD both in unipolar and bipolar depression is less explored. We hypothesise that ELS could have a role in the course of treatment resistant depressive episodes, influencing treatment response and outcome. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse the prevalence of childhood difficulties in TRD, and their associations with the clinical course of TRD. We want to assess whether particular types of ELS are associated with TRD both in unipolar and bipolar patients, exploring the association between ELS and TRD characteristics such as suicide attempts, presence of psychotic symptoms, treatment response and episode recurrence.