The broad stress analyses examined stress resulting from either childhood maltreatment or other life stress. The other life stress exposure was examined in two ways: including only subjects for whom the other life stress was documented to have occurred within the five years prior to depression (five years prior to assessment if no depression) or including all subjects. The 5-year threshold was chosen to match the original study design of Caspi et al. (2003).16 Most of the studies contributing to this set of analyses assessed stress over a shorter period, which is more in line with current beliefs about the depressogenic effects of acute stressors experienced in adulthood.
