Minimization of Childhood Maltreatment Is Common and Consequential: Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire

MacDonald, Kai; Michael, Thomas; Sciolla, Andrés F; Schneider, Beacher; Pappas, Katherine; Bleijenberg, Gijs; Bohus, Martin; Bradley, Bekh; Carpenter, Linda L.; Carr, Alan; Dannlowski, Udo; Dorahy, Martin J.; Fahlke, Claudia; Finzi‐Dottan, Ricky; Karu, Tobi; Gerdner, Arne; Glaesmer, Heide; Grabe, Hans J.; Heins, M.; Kenny, Dianna T.; Kim, Daeho; Knoop, Hans; Lobbestael, Jill; Löchner, Christine; Lauritzen, Grethe; Ravndal, Edle; Riggs, Shelley A.; Şar, Vedat; Schäfer, Ingo; Schlosser, Nicole; Schwandt, Melanie L.; Stein, Murray B.; Subič-Wrana, Claudia; Vogel, Marc; Wingenfeld, Katja

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146058

Cited by 162 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 64 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Of concern is whether retrospective measurement of past events, especially of childhood events, is prone to reporting and recall error (57,58). Previous studies on the validity of retrospective reporting from childhood (59,60) suggest that people are more likely to underreport early abuse experiences than overreport them. Based on these studies, two questions that we used, parental substance abuse and physical abuse, may have been underreported (57).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lifespan adversity and later adulthood telomere length in the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study

Puterman

Gemmill

Karasek

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

148

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stress over the lifespan is thought to promote accelerated aging and early disease. Telomere length is a marker of cell aging that appears to be one mediator of this relationship. Telomere length is associated with early adversity and with chronic stressors in adulthood in many studies. Although cumulative lifespan adversity should have bigger impacts than single events, it is also possible that adversity in childhood has larger effects on later life health than adult stressors, as suggested by models of biological embedding in early life. No studies have examined the individual vs. cumulative effects of childhood and adulthood adversities on adult telomere length. Here, we examined the relationship between cumulative childhood and adulthood adversity, adding up a range of severe financial, traumatic, and social exposures, as well as comparing them to each other, in relation to salivary telomere length. We examined 4,598 men and women from the US Health and Retirement Study. Single adversities tended to have nonsignificant relations with telomere length. In adjusted models, lifetime cumulative adversity predicted 6% greater odds of shorter telomere length. This result was mainly due to childhood adversity. In adjusted models for cumulative childhood adversity, the occurrence of each additional childhood event predicted 11% increased odds of having short telomeres. This result appeared mainly because of social/traumatic exposures rather than financial exposures. This study suggests that the shadow of childhood adversity may reach far into later adulthood in part through cellular aging. cellular aging | telomeres | lifespan adversity | childhood adversity A ging cells play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of noncommunicable diseases, and telomere shortening in cells plays a part of this aging process (1, 2). Telomeres are DNAprotein caps at the ends of chromosomes that protect genetic material from degradation, and their lengths indicate cellular aging (2, 3). Experiments in rodents implicate shortened telomeres and lower activity of telomerase, the enzyme that lengthens telomeres, as causes of mitochondrial and tissue damage associated with disease pathogenesis (4-6).Telomere length is linked cross-sectionally and prospectively with human disease states in many studies. A recent meta-analysis suggests that individuals with observed short leukocyte telomeres are at an ∼80% increased risk of concurrent reports of cardiovascular disease and an ∼40% increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the future (7). Other recent meta-analyses support the concurrent associations between short telomeres and diabetes (8) and several cancers (9, 10). Several studies indicate that short telomeres from varied sources, including leukocytes and saliva, are related to early mortality (11-17), including a study with >60,000 adults (18), although null studies also exist (19)(20)(21)(22).Although these studies suggest that telomere length plays a role in disease, they are observational, and studies directly linking genetics...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lifespan adversity and later adulthood telomere length in the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study

Puterman

Gemmill

Karasek

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

148

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This scale consists of three statements that are used to identify individuals with a tendency to give socially desirable responses or individuals who may be underreporting CM. 39, 49 Due to uncertainty in estimating bias parameters, trapezoidal distributions were used. 50 Based on the distribution of scores, the sensitivity among stillbirths and live births was assumed to fall between 0.60 and 1.00 (Table S1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal exposure to childhood maltreatment and risk of stillbirth

Freedman

Cammack

Temple

et al. 2017

Annals of Epidemiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose To determine the association between maternal exposure to childhood maltreatment (CM) and risk of stillbirth (≥ 20 weeks’ gestation). Methods Population-based case-control study from the Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network (SCRN) conducted in 2006–2008, and the follow-up study, SCRN-Outcomes after Study Index Stillbirth (SCRN-OASIS), conducted in 2009 in the United States. Cases (n = 133) included women who experienced a stillbirth, excluding stillbirths attributed to genetic/structural or umbilical cord abnormalities and intrapartum stillbirths. Controls (n = 500) included women delivering a healthy term live birth (excluding births <37 weeks gestation, neonatal intensive care unit admission, or death). CM exposure was measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, administered during the SCRN-OASIS study. Dichotomized scores for five subscales of CM (physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse) and an overall measure of CM exposure were analyzed using logistic regression. Results Generally, there was no association between CM and stillbirth, except for the emotional neglect subscale (OR: 1.93; 95% CI: 1.17, 3.19). Conclusions Childhood neglect is understudied in comparison to abuse and should be included in future studies of associations between CM and pregnancy outcomes, including stillbirth.

show abstract

“…Studies evaluating the accuracy of reporting childhood maltreatment show substantial underreporting and less overreporting. [53][54][55] As a result, findings may underestimate self-reported ACE exposure and PTSD symptoms, and they could be subject to respondent bias.…”

Section: Patient Preferences For Discussing Childhood Trauma In Primamentioning

confidence: 99%

Patient Preferences for Discussing Childhood Trauma in Primary Care

Goldstein

Athale

Sciolla

et al. 2017

TPJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Context: Exposure to traumatic events is common in primary care patients, yet health care professionals may be hesitant to assess and address the impact of childhood trauma in their patients.Objective: To assess patient preferences for discussing traumatic experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with clinicians in underserved, predominantly Latino primary care patients.Design: Cross-sectional study. Main Outcome Measure:We evaluated patients with a questionnaire assessing comfort to discuss trauma exposure and symptoms using the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study questionnaire and the Primary Care-PTSD screen. The questionnaire also assessed patients' confidence in their clinicians' ability to help with trauma-related issues. Surveys were collected at an integrated medical and behavioral health care clinic.Results: Of 178 adult patients asked, 152 (83%) agreed to participate. Among participants, 37% screened positive for PTSD, 42% reported 4 or more ACEs, and 26% had elevated scores on both measures. Primary Care-PTSD and ACE scores were strongly positively correlated (r = 0.57, p < 0.001). Most patients agreed they were comfortable being asked about trauma directly or through screening questionnaires and did not oppose the inclusion of trauma-related information in their medical record. In addition, most patients perceived their clinician as comfortable asking questions about childhood trauma and able to address trauma-related problems.Conclusion: Screening is acceptable to most primary care patients regardless of trauma exposure or positive PTSD screening. Findings may aid primary care clinicians to consider screening regularly for ACEs and PTSD to better serve the health care needs of trauma-exposed patients.

show abstract

Minimization of Childhood Maltreatment Is Common and Consequential: Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire

Cited by 162 publications

References 64 publications

Lifespan adversity and later adulthood telomere length in the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study

Lifespan adversity and later adulthood telomere length in the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study

Maternal exposure to childhood maltreatment and risk of stillbirth

Patient Preferences for Discussing Childhood Trauma in Primary Care

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About