Adverse childhood experiences in women with externalisation and internalisation disorders

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the connections between adverse childhood experiences and complex posttraumatic disorders and attachment types in women with externalisation (addictions, crime) and internalisation disorders (anxiety disorders and mixed anxiety-depressive disorders). participants and procedure The methods used in the study were as follows: Adverse Childhood Experiences-International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ), Family of Origin Dysfunction Scale (FODS) by Gąsior, Brier's Trauma Symptom Inventory-2 (TSI-2) and Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) by Collins and Read. The studied group comprised women (N = 159) with externalisation issues (addicted, n = 80, including the addicted and incarcerated n = 23) and with internalisation issues (n = 79). The overall results of the clinical groups were compared with the control group of women without adaptation issues (N = 129). results The examined groups of women with internalisation and externalisation disorders differ both in terms of intensity and the scope of adverse childhood experiences, as well as in complex post-traumatic stress and attachment extent. The results obtained and the conclusions drawn from the research indicate that it is necessary to include a detailed diagnosis of adverse childhood experiences and traumas in the therapy and social rehabilitation of women with internalisation and externalisation disorders. conclusions Development trajectories of externalisation and internalisation issues in women in view of their adverse childhood experiences require further studies.

The adverse childhood experiences—International questionnaire in clinical and at‐risk samples worldwide: A systematic review (part II)

“…Concerning the mean scores in Table 3, mean scores ranged from 0.16 (Collective Violence) to 0.90 (Emotional Neglect). Specifically, the clinical sample of refugees recruited by Silove et al (2018) obtained higher scores on Community Violence, while the two samples recruited by Gasior and Chodkiewicz (2020) obtained quite similar scores.…”

“…Nine studies using the ACE‐IQ investigated the relationship between ACEs exposure and psychopathological symptoms or psychiatric diagnosis (Elm, 2020; Fawzi et al, 2019; Gasior & Chodkiewicz, 2020; Kidman et al, 2018; Rajapakse et al, 2020; Silove et al, 2018; Tay et al, 2021; Van der Feltz‐Cornelis et al, 2019; Wang et al, 2021). Details of their findings are available in Table A1 of Appendix .…”

“…Regarding clinical samples (N = 8), prevalence rates range from 77% to 98%, with the highest one among individuals suffering from mood disorders and self-harm (Wang et al, 2021) as well as substance use (Naal et al, 2018). Regarding mean scores, ranging from 1.71 to 6.46, the two samples in the study of Gasior and Chodkiewicz (2020), suffering from internalizing or externalizing symptoms respectively, obtained the highest scores, while the lowest mean scores were found in the four samples recruited by Someshwar et al (2020), specifically in the one with obsessivecompulsive disorder.…”

“…Pooled prevalence rates could be calculated only for females, from four studies involving only clinical women suffering from SUD (Zlotnick et al, 2017) or internalizing and externalizing disorders (Gasior & Chodkiewicz, 2020), and at-risk participants with HIV (McCloskey et al, 2020) or low-income mothers (Malinga, 2019). As shown in Table 4, the pooled prevalence in women ranged from a minimum of 5% for Peer Violence to a maximum of 80% for Emotional Abuse.…”

“…Psychopathology's features Nine studies using the ACE-IQ investigated the relationship between ACEs exposure and psychopathological symptoms or psychiatric diagnosis (Elm, 2020;Fawzi et al, 2019;Gasior & Chodkiewicz, 2020;Kidman et al, 2018;Rajapakse et al, 2020;Silove et al, 2018;Tay et al, 2021;Van der Feltz-Cornelis et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2021). Details of their findings are available in Table A1 of Appendix A. Studies observed associations between depression and ACE-IQ scores (Kidman et al, 2018, cumulative ACEs (Kidman et al, 2018), including specific dimensions such as sexual (Elm, 2020;Kidman et al, 2018), emotional, and physical abuse; neglect; parental drug addiction; and mental illness (Elm, 2020).…”