Objective
With an emphasis on betrayal trauma, this study used latent profile analysis to examine how childhood traumas co-occur and whether trauma patterns differentially predicted psychological distress.
Method
A community sample of 806 adolescents and young adults participated. Youths reported their trauma histories, and lifetime DSM–IV disorders were assessed using a structured diagnostic interview.
Results
Latent profile analysis yielded 5 profiles: high-betrayal trauma physical violence and emotional abuse (HBTPE), high-betrayal trauma sexual and emotional abuse (HBTSE), low-betrayal trauma (LBT), parent death (PD), and a no/low trauma profile. Logistic regression analyses compared youths in the no/low trauma profile to those in the trauma profiles. Youths in the HBTPE profile were more likely to have moderate/severe major depressive disorder (odds ratio [OR] = 2.92, 95% CI = 1.16, 7.32), posttraumatic stress disorder (OR = 4.33, 95% CI = 1.34, 14.03), and hallucinations (OR = 5.03, 95% CI = 2.00, 12.67); youths in the HBTSE and LBT profiles were more likely to experience hallucinations (OR = 3.19, 95% CI = 1.21, 8.39 and OR = 3.20, 95% CI = 1.01, 10.19, respectively); and youths in the PD profile were more likely to have moderate/severe depression (OR = 2.42, 95% CI = 1.07, 5.43).
Conclusions
Specific trauma types co-occurred when considering type, level of betrayal, and frequency. The emergence of the two high-betrayal trauma profiles, with differing symptom presentations, suggests that experiences of high-betrayal traumas are not homogenous and specific trauma-focused interventions may be more appropriate for differing trauma profiles.