The effect of childhood trauma on age of onset in patients with schizophrenia

Abstract

Purpose: Childhood trauma (CT) has been shown to affect the etiology and clinical features of schizophrenia. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of CT on the age of onset (AoO) and clinical features of the disease by considering factors such as family history, head trauma, birth trauma, alcohol and substance abuse that may affect AoO of the disease. Methods: The sample comprising 200 patients admitted to the outpatient and inpatient care at the Izmir Katip Çelebi University, Atatürk Education and Research Hospital psychiatry clinic, were included in the study. Socio-demographic information form, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF) and subscale of Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) were applied. Results: All types of trauma, except physical abuse, were found related to the disease onset age earlier. It was also detected that the factors of head trauma, birth complication, presence of an individual diagnosed with schizophrenia in the family and migration history were not related to AoO of the disease. On the other hand, it was found that physical, emotional and sexual abuses lead to more positive psychotic symptoms, and all types of CT increase the severity of disease and the risk of suicide. Conclusion: This study draws attention to the etiological importance of CT in schizophrenia as an environmental factor by showing that it affects AoO of the disease along with symptomatology. Future studies should focus on the pathogenesis of CT in schizophrenia and the interaction between CT and biological and genetic predisposition.

Childhood trauma is associated with age at onset of symptoms, functioning, and cognition in patients with schizophrenia

“…The median CTQ scores of our sample indicated low to moderate perceived CT, overall and for all of its subtypes, according to the cutoff points used for this scale. 16 Subjective cognitive impairment was very similar to results reported in previous studies using the SCoRS, 41 including studies in Brazil. 40 The mean age at onset of symptoms of our sample and the performance on ILSS were also comparable to those from similar studies.…”

“…However, that study did not conduct a multivariate analysis. 16 Altogether, these results corroborate the hypothesis that emotional abuse is associated with worse prognosis and clinical severity in schizophrenia. 5 , 35 …”

“…40 The mean age at onset of symptoms of our sample and the performance on ILSS were also comparable to those from similar studies. 16 , 42 …”