The relationship between childhood trauma and theory of mind in schizophrenia

Aim: We investigated GRIN1, GRIN2A, GRIN2B and LINE-1 DNA methylation in first-episode schizophrenia patients, their nonaffected siblings and age- and sex-matched controls testing for associations between DNA methylation and exposition to childhood trauma. Materials & methods: The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire evaluated the history of childhood trauma. Genomic DNA was bisulfite converted and pyrosequencing was employed to quantify DNA methylation. Results: GRIN2A, GRIN2B and LINE-1 DNA methylation was not associated with childhood trauma in patients, siblings and controls. Siblings with childhood trauma had hypermethylation at CpG1 of GRIN1 compared with siblings without trauma. Conclusion: Childhood trauma may influence GRIN1 methylation in subjects with liability to psychosis, but not in frank schizophrenia or controls.

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Rethinking childhood adversity in chronic fatigue syndrome

10.7287/peerj.preprints.1571v1 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

James E Clark ◽

Sean Davidson ◽

Laura Maclachlan ◽

Megan Lynn ◽

Julia L Newton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Childhood Adversity ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽

History Of Childhood ◽

Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Co Morbidity ◽

History Of

Objectives: Previous studies have consistently shown increased rates of childhood adversity in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). However, such aetiopathogenic studies of CFS are potentially confounded by co-morbidity and misdiagnosis particularly with depression. We used a modelling approach with existing data and data generated in our examination of the rates of childhood adversity in a sample of CFS patients who had no lifetime history of depression. Methods: The childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ) was completed by a sample of 52 participants and 19 controls with chronic fatigue syndrome who did not meet criteria for a psychiatric disorder (confirmed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV). Subsequently, Mediation Analysis (Baye’s Rules) was used to establish the risk childhood adversity poses for CFS with and without depression. Results: In a cohort of CFS patients with depression robustly excluded, CTQ scores were markedly lower than in all previous studies and, in contrast to these previous studies, not increased compared with healthy controls. Post-hoc analysis showed that CTQ scores correlated with the number of depressive symptoms during the lifetime worst period of low mood. The probability of developing CFS given a history of childhood trauma was shown to be 4%, a two-fold increased risk compared to the general population. However, much of this risk is mediated by the concomitant development of major depression. Discussion: The data suggests that previous studies showing a relationship between childhood adversity and CFS may be mediated by depression

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The association between childhood trauma and empathy in patients with stable schizophrenia

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.606 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 33 (S1) ◽

pp. s241-s241

Author(s):

A. Arous ◽

R. Trabelsi ◽

J. Mrizak ◽

A. Aissa ◽

H. Ben Ammar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Point Of View ◽

Affective Empathy ◽

Affective States ◽

Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽

History Of ◽

Physical Neglect ◽

Affective Components

IntroductionEmpathy, which refers to the ability to understand and share the thoughts and feelings of others, has emerged as an important topic in the field of social neuroscience. It is one of the most understudied dimensions of social cognition in schizophrenia (SCZ).ObjectivesTo investigate the relationship between cognitive and affective empathy and CT in SCZ.MethodsFifty-eight outpatients with stable SCZ completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire retrospectively assessing five types of childhood trauma (emotional, physical and sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect). They also completed the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE) comprising five subscales intended to assess cognitive and affective components of empathy.ResultsPatients with a history of sexual abuse better emotion contagion scores (P = 0.048) which means that develop more easily self-oriented emotional state matching the affective states of others. Patients with a history of emotional neglect or/and in denial of CT had higher scores in perspective taking score (P = 0.017). Perspective taking assesses the extent to which respondents can take another's perspective or see things from another's point-of-view.ConclusionsInvestigating psychosocial mechanisms, specifically the role of CT, underlying the development of empathic capacities is important since empathy can represent a treatment-target.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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The association between childhood trauma and facial emotion recognition in patients with stable schizophrenia

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.1334 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 33 (S1) ◽

pp. S372-S372 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J. Mrizak ◽

A. Arous ◽

R. Trabelsi ◽

A. Aissa ◽

H. Ben Ammar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Emotion Recognition ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Emotional Abuse ◽

Facial Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Emotion ◽

Significant Feature ◽

Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽

Physical Neglect ◽

Competing Interest

IntroductionThe impairment of facial emotion recognition (FER) among patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) is a significant feature of the illness. Childhood trauma (CT) is reported with a high prevalence in SCZ and is considered one of its risk factors.ObjectivesTo investigate the relationship between FER and CT in SCZ.MethodsFifty-eight outpatients with stable SCZ completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire retrospectively assessing five types of childhood trauma (emotional, physical and sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect). They also completed a newly developed and validated FER task constructed from photographs of the face of a famous Tunisian actress and evaluating the ability to correctly identify Ekman's six basic facial emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, fear and surprise).ResultsPatients with higher scores of CT performed significantly worse in FER task. Our results suggest that the presence of sexual abuse is specifically correlated to a poor identification of anger (P = 0.02) and disgust (P = 0.03) while the presence of emotional abuse and physical neglect are correlated to a poor identification of happiness and sadness.ConclusionsCT may represent one of the causes of the FER deficits in schizophrenia. Further studies are necessary to confirm the link between specific kinds of childhood trauma and deficits in the recognition of discrete emotions.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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Rethinking childhood adversity in chronic fatigue syndrome

10.7287/peerj.preprints.1571 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

James E Clark ◽

Sean Davidson ◽

Laura Maclachlan ◽

Megan Lynn ◽

Julia L Newton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Childhood Adversity ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽

History Of Childhood ◽

Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Co Morbidity ◽

History Of

Objectives: Previous studies have consistently shown increased rates of childhood adversity in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). However, such aetiopathogenic studies of CFS are potentially confounded by co-morbidity and misdiagnosis particularly with depression. We used a modelling approach with existing data and data generated in our examination of the rates of childhood adversity in a sample of CFS patients who had no lifetime history of depression. Methods: The childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ) was completed by a sample of 52 participants and 19 controls with chronic fatigue syndrome who did not meet criteria for a psychiatric disorder (confirmed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV). Subsequently, Mediation Analysis (Baye’s Rules) was used to establish the risk childhood adversity poses for CFS with and without depression. Results: In a cohort of CFS patients with depression robustly excluded, CTQ scores were markedly lower than in all previous studies and, in contrast to these previous studies, not increased compared with healthy controls. Post-hoc analysis showed that CTQ scores correlated with the number of depressive symptoms during the lifetime worst period of low mood. The probability of developing CFS given a history of childhood trauma was shown to be 4%, a two-fold increased risk compared to the general population. However, much of this risk is mediated by the concomitant development of major depression. Discussion: The data suggests that previous studies showing a relationship between childhood adversity and CFS may be mediated by depression

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Association between childhood trauma and multimodal early-onset hallucinations

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.2019.266 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 216 (3) ◽

pp. 156-158 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

François Medjkane ◽

Charles-Edouard Notredame ◽

Lucie Sharkey ◽

Fabien D'Hondt ◽

Guillaume Vaiva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Adverse Events ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Traumatic Experiences ◽

History Of Childhood ◽

Sensory Modalities ◽

Icd 10 ◽

History Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Psychiatric Problems

SummaryPrevious reports suggest that adverse events during childhood could be related to an array of psychiatric problems. Here, we question the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and the sensory complexity of hallucinations in a cohort of 75 children and adolescents. We evidence a positive link between the number of sensory modalities involved in hallucinations and history of childhood trauma, even after controlling for the co-occurrence of suicidal ideation or the number of ICD-10 diagnoses. These findings support initiatives in which a routine exploration of traumatic events in childhood is performed when multimodal hallucinations are present.

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The effects of childhood trauma on psychotic symptoms in bipolar disorder

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(11)71950-2 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 26 (S2) ◽

pp. 240-240 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M.M. Ozkose ◽

O. Guclu ◽

S. Guloksuz ◽

O. Karaca ◽

B. Yildirim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Physical Abuse ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Psychotic Symptoms ◽

Psychotic Episode ◽

History Of Childhood ◽

History Of ◽

Physical Neglect ◽

Bipolar Patients

IntroductionAlthough history of childhood trauma is present in nearly 50% of bipolar patients, the effects of childhood trauma on the course of bipolar disorder are rarely investigated. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effects of childhood trauma on psychotic symptoms seen in patients with bipolar disorder.MethodsOne-hundred DSM-IV-TR diagnosed bipolar patients who were either manic or depressive were recruited from inpatient units of Bakirkoy Research and Training Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery. Patients were initially evaluated by Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Montgomery-Asperg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Scales for Assessment of Positive Symptoms. Patients were also evaluated by Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and Dissociative Experiences Scale in euthymia which was defined by scores of < 7 in YMRS, < 4 in MADRASResultsThere were no differences between the patients with and without a history of psychotic episode in terms of age at onset, duration of illness and episode characteristics. Patients with a history of psychotic episode were hospitalized more. CTQ physical abuse scores were higher in male comparing to female. CTQ sexual abuse scores were higher in female comparing to male. CTQ emotional abuse, physical neglect, physical abuse and total scores were higher in patients who had at least one psychotic episode in lifetime than in patients without a history of psychotic episode.ConclusionThe history of childhood trauma should be investigated and therapeutic interventions for childhood trauma should be added to the standard treatment plan of bipolar patients.

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Schizophrenia patients with a history of childhood trauma have a pro-inflammatory phenotype

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291712000074 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 42 (9) ◽

pp. 1865-1871 ◽

Cited By ~ 62

Author(s):

U. Dennison ◽

D. McKernan ◽

J. Cryan ◽

T. Dinan

Keyword(s):

Childhood Trauma ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Trauma Patients ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽

History Of Childhood ◽

Immune Parameters ◽

Tnf Α ◽

Inflammatory Phenotype ◽

History Of

BackgroundIncreasing evidence indicates that childhood trauma is a risk factor for schizophrenia and patients with this syndrome have a pro-inflammatory phenotype. We tested the hypothesis that the pro-inflammatory phenotype in schizophrenia is associated with childhood trauma and that patients without a history of such trauma have a similar immune profile to healthy controls.MethodWe recruited 40 schizophrenia patients and 40 controls, all of whom completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques, we measured peripheral levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α. These immune parameters were compared in schizophrenia with childhood trauma, schizophrenia without childhood trauma and healthy controls.ResultsPatients with childhood trauma had higher levels of IL-6 and TNF-α than patients without trauma and healthy controls, and TNF-α levels correlated with the extent of the trauma. Patients with no trauma had similar immune profiles to controls.ConclusionsChildhood trauma drives changes, possibly epigenetic, that generate a pro-inflammatory phenotype.

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The role of trauma and partner support in perinatal depression and parenting stress: An Australian pregnancy cohort study

International Journal of Social Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/0020764019838307 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 65 (3) ◽

pp. 225-234 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Megan Galbally ◽

Stuart J Watson ◽

Philip Boyce ◽

Andrew J Lewis

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Parenting Stress ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Perinatal Depression ◽

Protective Role ◽

Partner Support ◽

History Of Childhood ◽

History Of ◽

The Relationship

Background: Improving our understanding of the relationship between maternal depression and parenting stress is likely to lie in the range of additional factors that are associated with vulnerability to depression and also to parenting stress. Objectives: To examine the role of trauma and partner support, in understanding the relationship between perinatal depression and parenting stress. Methods: This study utilises data from 246 women in a pregnancy cohort study that followed women from early pregnancy until their infant was 12 months. Included were both women with a diagnosis of depression and those without depression. The measures included Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Social Support Effectiveness Questionnaire and the Parenting Stress Index. Results: We found women with depression were more likely to report a history of childhood trauma. Depressive symptoms were positively associated with parenting stress while partner support was negatively associated with parenting stress. The protective role of partner support for parenting distress was observed in those with no history of childhood abuse and low depressive symptoms, but not in those with a trauma history and high depressive symptoms. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of early trauma in understanding the protective role of support on the relationship between parenting and depression. These findings can inform future studies and the refinement of future interventions aimed at both perinatal depression and parenting.

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Affective lability mediates the association between childhood trauma and suicide attempts, mixed episodes and co-morbid anxiety disorders in bipolar disorders

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291716003081 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 47 (5) ◽

pp. 902-912 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

M. Aas ◽

C. Henry ◽

F. Bellivier ◽

M. Lajnef ◽

S. Gard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorders ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Clinical Features ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

Bipolar Disorders ◽

History Of Childhood ◽

History Of ◽

Axis I ◽

Affective Lability ◽

The Relationship

BackgroundMany studies have shown associations between a history of childhood trauma and more severe or complex clinical features of bipolar disorders (BD), including suicide attempts and earlier illness onset. However, the psychopathological mechanisms underlying these associations are still unknown. Here, we investigated whether affective lability mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and the severe clinical features of BD.MethodA total of 342 participants with BD were recruited from France and Norway. Diagnosis and clinical characteristics were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies (DIGS) or the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders (SCID-I). Affective lability was measured using the short form of the Affective Lability Scale (ALS-SF). A history of childhood trauma was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Mediation analyses were performed using the SPSSprocessmacro.ResultsUsing the mediation model and covariation for the lifetime number of major mood episodes, affective lability was found to statistically mediate the relationship between childhood trauma experiences and several clinical variables, including suicide attempts, mixed episodes and anxiety disorders. No significant mediation effects were found for rapid cycling or age at onset.ConclusionsOur data suggest that affective lability may represent a psychological dimension that mediates the association between childhood traumatic experiences and the risk of a more severe or complex clinical expression of BD.

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