Childhood trauma and neuroticism as an adult: possible implication for the development of the common psychiatric disorders and suicidal behaviour

Roy, Alec

doi:10.1017/s0033291702006566

Cited by 106 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(14 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…A positive association between childhood trauma and neuroticism has been previously reported in community-dwelling adults 29 and substance abuse patients. 30 The present analyses suggest that this association persists into old age and that it pertains to all dimensions of neuroticism. Childhood adversity has been associated with interpersonal difficulties in adolescence, suggesting that early life trauma interferes with the development of social skills.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 48%

Childhood Adversity and Psychosocial Adjustment in Old Age

Wilson

Krueger

Arnold

et al. 2006

The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective-The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that higher level of childhood adversity is associated with lower level of psychosocial adjustment in old age.Method-Participants are 253 older persons (mean age: 79.8, standard deviation: 2.1; 73.9% women) from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a clinicopathologic study of common chronic conditions of old age. Childhood adversity was assessed with a 16-item measure based on portions of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and other inventories. Psychosocial adjustment was assessed with multiple measures of neuroticism (i.e., proneness to negative emotions) and social engagement.Results-Based in part on a factor analysis, composite measures of total adversity, emotional neglect, parental intimidation, parental violence, family turmoil, and financial need were developed. In a series of linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, own education, and parental education, the composite measure of childhood adversity was associated with all facets of neuroticism and accounted for more than 13% of the variance in the composite neuroticism measure. Emotional neglect and parental intimidation had the strongest associations with neuroticism. Childhood adversity was not related to frequency of participation in social activities, but more adversity was associated with having a smaller network (accounting for 3% of the variance) and feeling more emotionally isolated (accounting for 7% of the variance).Conclusion-Childhood adversity is associated with less adaptive psychosocial functioning in old age. KeywordsChildhood Adversity; aging; neuroticism; social engagement Maltreatment, neglect, and other adverse experiences commonly occur during childhood. [1][2][3] Among adults, a history of adverse childhood experience has been shown to be associated with diverse psychologic problems, including interpersonal difficulties, 4,5 personality disorders, 6, 7 depression, 8,9 alcohol and substance abuse, 7,8 and suicidal behavior, 10,11 as well as poor physical health. 12,13 By contrast, knowledge about the relation of traumatic experiences during childhood to mental health in old age is limited. Most research has focused on parental emotional support, with lower levels of support associated with more physical and emotional problems in older persons. [14][15][16] In addition, loss of a parent in childhood has been related to NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript impaired physical health, but not disability, in old age. 17 Thus, the extent to which the deleterious effects of childhood adversity persist into old age is not well understood.In the present study, we examined the relation of childhood adversity to psychosocial adjustment in older persons. Participants are from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a clinicopathologic study of chronic conditions of old age. We developed from existing questionnaires a self-report measure of adverse childhood experiences, including emotional neglect and parental violence and intimidation...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 48%

Childhood Adversity and Psychosocial Adjustment in Old Age

Wilson

Krueger

Arnold

et al. 2006

The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In overlapping research, early life caregiving experiences and trauma exposures have been shown to impact childhood emotional understanding and expression (62,63) with some studies showing differential gender effects (64). Children exposed to violence and neglect in their environment have been found to express higher levels of negative emotion (anxiety, depressive mood, anger, hostility, and irritability) and more adverse stress reactivity (65,66). Negative emotion, in turn, has been linked to impaired lung function in both cross-sectional (67) and longitudinal analyses (12) while positive emotion seems to be protective (68).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Violence Exposure, A Chronic Psychosocial Stressor, and Childhood Lung Function

Suglia

Ryan

Laden

et al. 2008

Psychosomatic Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The final refereed version is available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/104756/ personality factors, such as neuroticism (Roy, 2002), a point that has also been offered to explain the sensitizing effects of prior depressive episodes (see Monroe & Harkness, 2005). Chorpita (2001) proposed that the experience of uncontrollable stressors, especially in early childhood, may contribute to the formation of a psychological vulnerability that acts to amplify the effects of negative events experienced in late childhood and adulthood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress Sensitization and Adolescent Depressive Severity as a Function of Childhood Adversity: A Link to Anxiety Disorders

Espejo

Hammen

Connolly

et al. 2006

J Abnorm Child Psychol

127

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The goal of the present study was to determine whether exposure to adversity in childhood contributes to a differential threshold at which stressful life events provoke depressive reactions in adolescence. In addition, to address empirical and conceptual questions about stress effects, the moderating effect of anxiety disorder history was also explored. This examination was conducted in a sample of 816 children of depressed and nondepressed mothers, who were followed from birth to age 15. Information on adversities experienced in childhood was collected both from mothers during the first five years of their youth's life and from the youths themselves at age 15, and included information on the mother's relationship with her partner, maternal psychopathology, as well as youth-reported abuse. Results indicated that youths with both greater exposure to adversity in childhood and a history of an anxiety disorder displayed increased depressive severity following low levels of episodic stress compared to youths with only one or neither of these risk factors. The results are speculated to reflect the possibility that early anxiety disorders associated with exposure to adversity in childhood may be a marker of dysregulated stress responses, and may help to account for the comorbidity of depression and anxiety in some individuals.

show abstract

Childhood trauma and neuroticism as an adult: possible implication for the development of the common psychiatric disorders and suicidal behaviour

Abstract: Childhood trauma may be a determinant of neuroticism. This may be one way in which childhood trauma plays a role in the development of psychiatric disorders. General population studies are needed.

Cited by 106 publications

References 19 publications

Childhood Adversity and Psychosocial Adjustment in Old Age

Childhood Adversity and Psychosocial Adjustment in Old Age

Violence Exposure, A Chronic Psychosocial Stressor, and Childhood Lung Function

Stress Sensitization and Adolescent Depressive Severity as a Function of Childhood Adversity: A Link to Anxiety Disorders

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About