Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Quasi-Experimental Studies

Baldwin, Jessie; Wang, Biyao; Karwatowska, Lucy; Schoeler, Tabea; Tsaligopoulou, Anna; Munafò, Marcus R.; Pingault, Jean‐Baptiste

doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.20220174

Cited by 81 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…For example, we found that child maltreatment was largely associated with internalising and externalising problems, independent of genetic confounding. This is consistent with evidence of causal effects of maltreatment on psychopathology from Mendelian Randomisation 42 , co-twin control 43 , and other quasiexperimental studies 44 . We also found that parental mental illness was associated with internalising and externalising problems independent of genetic confounding, which supports evidence from Children-of-Twins (CoT) and adoption studies [45][46][47] .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health

et al. 2022

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Children who experience adversities have an elevated risk of mental health problems. However, the extent to which adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cause mental health problems remains unclear, as previous associations may partly reflect genetic confounding.In this Registered Report, we used DNA from 11,407 children from the UK and USA to investigate gene-environment correlations and genetic confounding of the associations between ACEs and mental health. Regarding gene-environment correlations, children with higher polygenic scores for mental health problems had a small increase in odds for ACEs.Regarding genetic confounding, elevated risk of mental health problems in children exposed to ACEs was at least partially due to pre-existing genetic risk. However, some ACEs (e.g., childhood maltreatment, parental mental illness) remained associated with mental health problems independent of genetic confounding. These findings suggest that interventions addressing heritable psychiatric vulnerabilities in children exposed to ACEs may help to reduce their risk of mental health problems.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health

et al. 2022

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“…Of the 15 protocols in which a non-MR-specific risk-of-bias assessment is reported, 14 used structural tools and Mamluk 97 planned to assess risk of bias on whether adjustment for potentially relevant confounders was conducted. Of the 14 structured tools used for non-MR-specific risk-of-bias assessment, Cheng, 117 Dack, 73 Fell, 77 Haan, 82 , 83 Lemus 94 and Suh 109 planned to use NOS 69 and Baldwin, 71 Cara 72 , 109 and Gianfredi 78 planned to use a modified version of NOS; Elsakloul 75 planned to use STROBE; 118 Fan 76 planned to use a quality-assessment tool for systematic reviews of observational studies that comprised external validity, reporting, bias and confounding factors, but a reference was not provided; Karwatowska 88 , 89 planned to use ROBINS-I; 19 Yan 54 planned to use the ROB-2 18 and the ROBINS-I 19 tools; and Wang 114 planned to use the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool (no details provided).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tools for assessing quality and risk of bias in Mendelian randomization studies: a systematic review

Spiga

Gibson

Dawson

et al. 2022

International Journal of Epidemiology

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Background The use of Mendelian randomization (MR) in epidemiology has increased considerably in recent years, with a subsequent increase in systematic reviews of MR studies. We conducted a systematic review of tools designed for assessing risk of bias and/or quality of evidence in MR studies and a review of systematic reviews of MR studies. Methods We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, the Web of Science, preprints servers and Google Scholar for articles containing tools for assessing, conducting and/or reporting MR studies. We also searched for systematic reviews and protocols of systematic reviews of MR studies. From eligible articles we collected data on tool characteristics and content, as well as details of narrative description of bias assessment. Results Our searches retrieved 2464 records to screen, from which 14 tools, 35 systematic reviews and 38 protocols were included in our review. Seven tools were designed for assessing risk of bias/quality of evidence in MR studies and evaluation of their content revealed that all seven tools addressed the three core assumptions of instrumental variable analysis, violation of which can potentially introduce bias in MR analysis estimates. Conclusion We present an overview of tools and methods to assess risk of bias/quality of evidence in MR analysis. Issues commonly addressed relate to the three standard assumptions of instrumental variables analyses, the choice of genetic instrument(s) and features of the population(s) from which the data are collected (particularly in two-sample MR), in addition to more traditional non-MR-specific epidemiological biases. The identified tools should be tested and validated for general use before recommendations can be made on their widespread use. Our findings should raise awareness about the importance of bias related to MR analysis and provide information that is useful for assessment of MR studies in the context of systematic reviews.

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“…Additionally, high parental stress is a major risk factor for childhood maltreatment. Childhood maltreatment has been proven to worsen psychopathology, in particular symptoms related to neurodevelopmental conditions ( 54 , 59 ), but also to cause psychopathology if combined with other genetic and environmental risk factors ( 60 ). For these reasons, we highlight that childhood trauma and poor family functioning might be strong enough explanatory factors associated with belonging to a clinical population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dimensional model on how familial vulnerability and environmental factors impact transitional age youth psychopathology: The Transition_psy study

et al. 2023

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BackgroundUnderstanding psychopathology in transitional age youth (TAY) requires a complex model, incorporating familial vulnerability and environmental factors. A trans-diagnostic and dimensional approach seems the most appropriate. Transition_psy study aims to assess factors playing a role in TAY psychopathology and to define predictors.Materials and methodsThis article presents part of the Transition_psy study results, a case-control observational study. Youth aged 17 years old were recruited between June 2020 and December 2021, from both clinical [clinical population (CP) group] and non-clinical settings [non-clinical population (NCP) group]. Participants completed self-report questionnaires. The primary outcome to assess TAY psychopathology was the Youth-Self Report (YSR). We evaluated care needs with the Health of The Nation Outcome Scales For Children And Adolescents (HoNOSCA-SR) and quality of life with the World Health Organization Quality of Life – BREF (WHOQoL-BREF). Exposure factors included familial vulnerability, childhood, and present environmental factors, such as first-degree family history of psychopathology, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and the Family Assessment Device (FAD). YSR scores were compared, between groups, according to exposure factors with ANOVA and linear regression. We performed best subsets selection of multivariable analyses based on the Akaike Information Criterion. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT04333797).ResultsA total of 220 TAY (CP = 106, NCP = 114) were included in the study. Participants were aged 17 years old. The majority were female (69.1%), single (96.8%), and born in Belgium (82.3%). Clinical data were all significantly different between CP and NCP groups. YSR scores were found statistically different according to group (p < 0.001), first-degree family history of psychopathology (p < 0.001), CTQ (p < 0.001), and FAD (p < 0.001). Predictive dimensional model suggested that TAY psychopathology can be predicted by group, CTQ and FAD. Significant positive correlation was found between YSR and HoNOSCA (rho = 0.81) and negative correlation between YSR and physical and psychological health (rho = −0.69 and −0.71, respectively).ConclusionThis study findings allowed to present a predictive dimensional model on TAY psychopathology, including belonging to a clinical population at transitional age, childhood trauma, and family dysfunction. Further research is needed to replicate Transition_psy study results in other samples. The proposed model could be used in clinical practice to improve assessment of TAY psychopathology.

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Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Quasi-Experimental Studies

Cited by 81 publications

References 86 publications

A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health

A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health

Tools for assessing quality and risk of bias in Mendelian randomization studies: a systematic review

Dimensional model on how familial vulnerability and environmental factors impact transitional age youth psychopathology: The Transition_psy study

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