Adverse childhood experiences, marital status and depressive symptoms in later life among the Chinese middle-aged and older adults : the mediating role of marital status

Chinese middle-aged and older people who experienced two or more ACEs have higher risks of unmarried status and depressive symptoms, and unmarried status partially mediated the ACEs-depressive symptom association. These findings reveal the fact that we need to develop life-cycle public health strategies to reduce exposure to ACEs and society should give more attention to the marital status of older people, thereby reducing the risk of depression among middle-aged and older adults in China.