Decomposition analysis of the disparities in depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults between urban and rural areas in China: adverse childhood experiences are a contributing factor

Depression is a major public health concern in China, with growing urban-rural disparities. This study aimed to examine how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and other factors contribute to these disparities. Data were drawn from 7979 adults aged ≥45 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Twenty-four ACEs were obtained from the 2014 wave, while individual characteristics and depressive symptoms were extracted from the 2018 wave, and the Fairlie model was used to analyze factors contributing to urban-rural disparities. Overall, 36.08% of participants reported depressive symptoms, with a higher rate in rural than in urban areas (39.7% vs. 30.3%, p < 0.001). In terms of ACEs, parental anxiety, parental strictness, and childhood adverse health conditions were risk factors in rural areas but not in urban areas, whereas adverse intra-parental relationship and childhood poor friendship were risk factors in urban areas but not significant in rural areas. Parental divorce was a protective factor in rural areas, while parental depression was a risk factor in both settings. The Fairlie model revealed that 55.65% of the urban-rural difference could be explained by self-rated health status (18.24%), Internet use (7.70%), retirement (6.32%), parental depression (6.19%), educational level (5.35%), life satisfaction (4.68%), gender (-2.56%), childhood starvation (1.68%), parental disability (1.44%), age (0.79%), childhood disease (0.63%), childhood bullying (0.60%), childhood adverse health conditions (0.55%), and marital status (-0.34%). These findings indicate that urban-rural disparities in depressive symptoms may be attributed to both individual and ACEs factors, and interventions should address both structural determinants and ACEs.