Emotional abuse in childhood is a differential factor for the development of depression in adults.

We evaluate the association between subtypes of early life stress (ELS; sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect) and psychiatric disorders in adults. The sample was composed of 81 adult psychiatric patients treated at the Day Hospital Unit in Brazil. The patients with a history of emotional abuse had higher severity scores in all symptoms, such as depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and impulsivity. These data demonstrate the impact of ELS, especially in cases of emotional abuse, as a trigger for psychiatric disorders and indicate that the severity of ELS is associated with severity of psychiatric symptoms.