Childhood abuse or neglect is associated with increased vasomotor symptom reporting among midlife women

Abstract

Objectives-This study tested the hypothesis that women exposed to childhood abuse or neglect would have an increased likelihood of reporting hot flashes and night sweats during the menopausal transition.Design-This hypothesis was evaluated in 332 white and African American women participating in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation Mental Health Study, a prospective investigation of women transitioning through menopause. Childhood abuse and neglect were measured once with the Child Trauma Questionnaire. Vasomotor symptoms (any/none hot flashes, night sweats) were reported annually over 8 years. Associations between maltreatment and vasomotor symptoms were estimated with generalized estimating equations.Results-Childhood abuse or neglect was associated with increased reporting of hot flashes (odds ratio = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.23-2.43) and night sweats (odds ratio = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.26-2.43) in ageadjusted models. Results persisted in multivariable models and across several types of abuse and neglect.Conclusions-The experience of childhood abuse and neglect is associated with increased vasomotor symptom reporting in adulthood. The sequelae of childhood abuse and neglect may persist well into adulthood to influence the occurrence of vasomotor symptoms at midlife. KeywordsMenopause; Vasomotor symptoms; Hot flashes; Child abuse; Neglect; Maltreatment Childhood abuse and neglect are highly prevalent in the United States, with estimates in 2004 from the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families indicating rates at 11.2 per 1,000 boys and 12.6 per 1,000 girls. 1 Across multiple investigations experiences of abuse and neglect in childhood have been linked to significantly elevated risk of several adverse health outcomes, including a range of psychiatric disorders, 2-5 substance abuse problems, 2,6 eating disorders, 7,8 and poor self-rated health. 6,9 In the case of physical health conditions, significant associations are most consistently observed for symptomatic conditions that include headache, The aim of this investigation was to examine the association between childhood abuse and vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes, night sweats) over the menopausal transition. Given the association between childhood abuse and other physical symptoms, reporting of vasomotor symptoms may be elevated among women who have experienced childhood abuse or neglect. Moreover, childhood abuse and neglect have been associated with behavioral, affective, and neuroendocrine factors also linked to vasomotor symptoms, 15,[30][31][32][33][34][35] including smoking and obesity, 36-38 depression and anxiety, 2 and alterations in key neuroendocrine [39][40][41][42][43] and reproductive hormone 44 systems. Thus, we hypothesized that women exposed to childhood abuse or neglect would be more likely to report vasomotor symptoms than women who had not been exposed to abuse or neglect. Secondary aims, examined in an exploratory fashion, were (1) to evaluate the association between different types of maltreatment (emotional abuse, physical abuse...

Adverse childhood experiences are associated with adult sleep disorders: a systematic review

“…Another aspect of the ACE-sleep association that is unique to women is the role of vasomotor symptoms of menopause. Thurston et al [59] studied the association between childhood abuse or neglect and vasomotor symptoms, which often affect sleep quality. The authors found that women with any child abuse or neglect had 1.7 (95% CI = 1.2-2.4) times the odds of reporting hot flashes and 1.8 (95% CI = 1.3-2.4) times the odds of reporting night sweats compared with women without a history of child abuse or neglect.…”

“…The authors found that women with any child abuse or neglect had 1.7 (95% CI = 1.2-2.4) times the odds of reporting hot flashes and 1.8 (95% CI = 1.3-2.4) times the odds of reporting night sweats compared with women without a history of child abuse or neglect. Furthermore, these associations were statistically significantly stronger in African American women than in White women, further indicating the importance of studying racial/ethnic disparities in the association between ACEs and sleep [59]. …”

Factors That May Influence the Experience of Hot Flushes by Healthy Middle-Aged Women

“…77 Life events as other possible effectors on mental health were explored in association with HFs in a limited number of studies. Thurston et al, 79 in a longitudinal prospective study, found that childhood abuse or neglect was associated with an increased tendency to report HFs in adulthood. Park et al 80 concluded in their case-control study that mental workload under time pressure might be a risk factor for menopausal HFs (although the overall performance of most people was not affected by them).…”

Somatic, mood, and vasomotor symptoms at midlife in relation to family structure and household workloads in Sylhet, Bangladesh

“…Studies of midlife have also suggested that psycho-social stress is a significant correlate of symptom frequencies in Canada (Kaufert et al 1992), the UK (Kuh et al 1997), the U.S. (McKinlay et al 1987;Thurston et al 2008), Spain (Sievert et al 2007b), Japan (Igarashi et al 2000), and Chile (Binfa et al 2004). …”