scholarly journals Distinct microRNA signature in human serum and germline after childhood trauma

Author(s):  
Ali Jawaid ◽  
Marina Kunzi ◽  
Mahgul Mansoor ◽  
Zain Yar Khan ◽  
Anooshay Abid ◽  
...  

Traumatic experiences during childhood can persistently alter mental and physical health in humans and have been implicated in transmission of symptoms to the progeny in animal models. Molecular evidence from these models implicates epigenetic/non-genetic factors, such as microRNAs (miRNAs), in the expression of trauma-induced symptoms and their transmission to the offspring. To confirm these findings in humans, we assembled three cohorts of subjects exposed to childhood trauma and examined selected miRNAs linked to psychological and pathophysiological manifestations of childhood trauma. Children aged 7-12 years (n = 72, control n = 30) exposed to paternal loss and maternal separation (PLMS) exhibited increase in two miRNAs, miR-16 and miR-375 in serum and reduced level of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) compared to control children. Comparable miRNA changes were observed in serum of adult men aged 18-25 years (n = 13, control n = 17) who had been exposed to PLMS at a young age. Finally, the same miRNAs were altered in sperm of adult men aged 21-50 years (n = 23, control n = 35) exposed to two or more significant traumatic events in childhood, assessed retrospectively using the standardized childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ). In vitro experiments show that regulation of these miRNA involves the HDL receptor SRB-1, suggesting a link between trauma-associated miRNAs and metabolic alterations.

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (9) ◽  
pp. 1570-1577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumaya Mall ◽  
Jonathan M. Platt ◽  
Henk Temmingh ◽  
Eustasius Musenge ◽  
Megan Campbell ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundEvidence from high-income countries suggests that childhood trauma is associated with schizophrenia. Studies of childhood trauma and schizophrenia in low and middle income (LMIC) countries are limited. This study examined the prevalence of childhood traumatic experiences among cases and controls and the relationship between specific and cumulative childhood traumatic experiences and schizophrenia in a sample in South Africa.MethodsData were from the Genomics of Schizophrenia in the South African Xhosa people study. Cases with schizophrenia and matched controls were recruited from provincial hospitals and clinics in the Western and Eastern Cape regions in South Africa. Childhood traumatic experiences were measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Adjusted logistic regression models estimated associations between individual and cumulative childhood traumatic experiences and schizophrenia.ResultsTraumatic experiences were more prevalent among cases than controls. The odds of schizophrenia were 2.44 times higher among those who experienced any trauma than those who reported no traumatic experiences (95% CI 1.77–3.37). The odds of schizophrenia were elevated among those who experienced physical/emotional abuse (OR 1.59, CI 1.28–1.97), neglect (OR 1.39, CI 1.16–1.68), and sexual abuse (OR 1.22, CI 1.03–1.45) compared to those who did not. Cumulative physical/emotional abuse and neglect experiences increased the odds of schizophrenia as a dose–response relationship.ConclusionChildhood trauma is common in this population. Among many other benefits, interventions to prevent childhood trauma may contribute to a decreasing occurrence of schizophrenia.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 486-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swantje Matthies ◽  
Chiharu Sadohara-Bannwarth ◽  
Sebastian Lehnhart ◽  
Jan Schulte-Maeter ◽  
Alexandra Philipsen

Objective: We assessed factors influencing quality of life (QoL) in adults with ADHD. Method: QoL, traumatic childhood experiences, and depression were assessed using the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), respectively, in 60 adult ADHD outpatients and 60 age- and gender-matched controls. Results: Emotional neglect or abuse had occurred significantly more often during childhood in adults with ADHD. Depressive symptoms were rated significantly higher by ADHD patients. QoL was significantly lower in adults with ADHD, and the variables depression, ADHD symptom severity, and traumatic load, accounted for ~60% of variance in overall QoL. Conclusion: QoL is significantly reduced in adult ADHD patients. Depressive symptoms and traumatic childhood experiences influence QoL. Treatment for adult ADHD patients should take the high interdependence of depressive symptoms, childhood trauma, and QoL into consideration.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S109-S109
Author(s):  
S.B. Ölmez ◽  
A. Ataoğlu ◽  
Z. Başar Kocagöz

IntroductionIt is widely known that childhood traumatic life situations are associated with most of the adult life psychiatric disorders such as disassociative disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders and so on.Objectives and aimsThe purpose of this study to examine the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and panic disorder development.MethodsThe sample of this study consists of 59 outpatients who applied to the department of psychiatry in addition to 61 healthy individuals serving as the control group. These 59 individuals, located within the range of 18 to 65 years, were selected from outpatients who had been diagnosed with panic disorder based on DSM-V diagnosis criteria who did not have any other mental disorder. The 61 healthy individuals in the control group were selected from hospital attendants who had not received any psychiatric diagnosis. The participants were administered the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ) and a socio-demographic form.ResultsThe participants in the panic disorder group were found to have significantly high scores in comparison to the control group with respect to CTQ subscales (i.e., the emotional neglect and the emotional abuse subscale) and the total CTQ score. Hence, there exists a strong relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and panic disorder development.ConclusionThe results revealed that childhood traumatic experiences play an active role in the development of panic disorder. Moreover, it was found that the type and quality of trauma experienced during the childhood period is one of the predictors for the psychiatric disease that can occur in the future years.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-40
Author(s):  
Eglantina Dervishi ◽  
Elisabeta Mujaj ◽  
Silva Ibrahimi

The aim of this study was the exploration of early traumatic experiences related to emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional and physical neglect, as well as the connection of the dimensions of these early traumatic experiences with the experiencing of depressive symptoms in adulthood. A sample of 331 University students in Tirana, 60 males (N = 60) or 18.1% and 271 females (N = 271) or 81.9% completed the online Beck Inventory for Depression (BDI), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF). The minimum age of the youth participating in the study was 18 years and the maximum age was 32 years, with an average of 20 years (M = 20.07) and the standard deviation (SD = 1.5). Descriptive, correlational and linear regression analysis were used for data processing through the SPSS 22. The study confirmed the connection between early traumatic experiences and the appearance of depressive symptoms in adulthood (r(329) = .333, p < .001). Among the dimensions of early traumatic experiences, it seems that a stronger connection with the occurrence of depressive symptoms relates to the size of emotional trauma. The size of child sexual trauma is connected to feelings of punishment and suicidal thoughts in adulthood. Early traumatic experiences seem to have a significant impact on how adults express themselves and choose to interact with their environment. Coping with problems of mental health and depression today can be closely related to the early traumatic experiences of juveniles and adults.


2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 259-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. Wota ◽  
C. Byrne ◽  
I. Murray ◽  
T. Ofuafor ◽  
Z. Nisar ◽  
...  

ObjectivesChildhood sexual abuse has previously been associated with adult mental health difficulties, however, few studies have evaluated all forms of childhood maltreatment in individuals attending adult mental health services. Consequently, this study investigates the association of five forms of childhood trauma with a range of clinical symptoms and mental health disorders in 136 individuals attending a mental health service in Ireland utilising the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ).MethodOne hundred and thirty-six patients attending the Roscommon Mental Health Services completed the CTQ and a number of additional psychometric instruments evaluating illness severity, impulsivity, disability and the presence of a personality disorder(s) (PD) to ascertain the prevalence of childhood trauma and any potential associations between childhood trauma and a range of demographic and clinical factors.ResultSeventy-six per cent of individuals reported childhood trauma, with emotional neglect most frequently reported (61%). Individuals who had experienced childhood trauma had higher rates of clinical symptoms, distress and impulsivity. Substance abuse and paranoid, borderline and antisocial PDs most associated with childhood trauma.ConclusionThis study demonstrates the need to routinely elicit information on all forms of childhood traumatic experiences from patients.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1873 ◽  
Author(s):  
İrem Akduman ◽  
Dilek Çelik ◽  
Nurhan Tiftik

Adverse childhood period and abuse experiences may lead to some problems later in life. One of these problems is aggressive behavior, which is thought to be a reflection of the child’s increasing anger (Page, 2004; Olive, 2007).  Based on the fact that negative childhood experiences can lead to aggressive emotions, investigating the relationship between traumatic childhood experiences and female convicts’ aggression expression styles was considered important.Sample of the research consists of 77 females who are homicide convicts selected from correctional institutes in three different cities. Data gathered from the participants were examined by using the Turkish versions of The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and The State-Trait Anger Scale.A positive and meaningful relationship between childhood trauma experiences and trait anger levels of participants was observed. In addition, there was a significant relationship between childhood trauma experiences and domestic violence as well as perceived problematic relationship with family members during childhood. Trait anger and internal anger were also found to be significantly related to perceived problematic relationship with family members during childhood.   Results of the analyses were discussed in detail.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (14) ◽  
pp. 4359-4380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne S. J. Farina ◽  
Katherine J. Holzer ◽  
Matt DeLisi ◽  
Michael G. Vaughn

Despite growing interest in psychopathic personality features in juvenile offenders, few studies have examined the relationship between childhood trauma and psychopathy. The present study utilized two datasets: 253 adolescents in a residential facility for juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania and 723 institutionalized delinquents in Missouri. Zero-order correlations and linear regression techniques were employed for boys and girls to examine the relationships between trauma, assessed using the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument Version 2 (MAYSI-2) Traumatic Experiences Scale and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and psychopathy as measured by the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory–Short Form (PPI-SF). Results indicate that psychopathy is significantly correlated with childhood trauma. For the Missouri data, trauma significantly predicted psychopathy scores for both boys and girls. These results suggest that nuanced understanding of traumatic history of these adolescents may not only be a pathway to psychopathy but also a critical part of their overall assessment and treatment plan.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexa Negele ◽  
Johannes Kaufhold ◽  
Lisa Kallenbach ◽  
Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber

There is a large consensus indicating that childhood trauma is significantly involved in the development of depression. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of retrospectively recalled childhood trauma in chronically depressed patients and to investigate a more specific relationship between trauma type and depression. We further asked for the influence of multiple experiences of childhood trauma on the vulnerability to a chronic course of depression in adulthood. 349 chronically depressed patients of the German LAC Depression Study completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, a self-report measure of traumatic experiences in childhood. 75.6% of the chronically depressed patients reported clinically significant histories of childhood trauma. 37% of the chronically depressed patients reported multiple childhood traumatization. Experiences of multiple trauma also led to significantly more severe depressive symptoms. Stepwise multiple regression analysis suggested that childhood emotional abuse and sexual abuse were significantly associated with a higher symptom severity in chronically depressed adults. Yet, expanding the regression model for multiple exposures showed that multiplicity was the only remaining significant predictor for symptom severity in chronically depressed patients. Clinical implications suggest a precise assessment of childhood trauma in chronically depressed patients with a focus on emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and multiple exposures to childhood trauma. This trial is registered with registration numberISRCTN91956346.


Author(s):  
Martina Petrikova ◽  
Natalia Kascakova ◽  
Jana Furstova ◽  
Jozef Hasto ◽  
Peter Tavel

Background: Previous research has shown a strong relationship between childhood trauma and worsened physical and mental health. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is a commonly used tool assessing early traumatic experiences. The aim of this study was to verify the psychometric properties of the Slovak version of the CTQ. Methods: Data were collected on a representative Slovak sample (N = 1018, mean age 46.24 years, 48.7% of men). The dimensional structure of the CTQ was tested by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA); convergent validity was assessed using the Adverse Childhood Questionnaire (ACE-IQ). Results: CFA confirmed the standard 5-factor CTQ model. The subscales of the CTQ and the ACE-IQ questionnaires showed moderate to high correlations. The internal consistency of the scale was found to be acceptable. Emotional neglect (EN) was reported in 48.1%, physical neglect (PN) in 35.8%, emotional abuse in 15.8%, physical abuse (PA) in 11.0%, and sexual abuse (SA) in 9.1% of the Slovak population, according to the scoring, when even low abuse or neglect is assessed as trauma. Conclusion: The CTQ questionnaire fulfilled the validation criteria and appeared to be a suitable method for assessing retrospectively reported childhood trauma experiences in the Slovak population.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhipeng Wu ◽  
Zhening Liu ◽  
Zhengqian Jiang ◽  
Xingzi Fu ◽  
Qian Deng ◽  
...  

AbstractOverprotection and overcontrol from parents or other family members, which are not rare in the Chinese culture, have been suggested to be traumatic experiences for some children. However, research on overprotection/overcontrol is much rarer in China compared with other childhood trauma subtypes. One of the possible reasons for this is the lack of easy and feasible screening tools. In this study, we therefore translated and validated a Chinese version of the 33-item Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-33), which was expanded from the widely-used 28-item CTQ with an additional overprotection/overcontrol subscale. A total of 248 young healthy participants were recruited and completed the Chinese version of CTQ-33, and 50 of them were retested after an interval of two weeks. At baseline, all participants also completed the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale to assess their depression and anxiety, respectively. Our main findings include that: (1) the Chinese version of CTQ-33 showed a good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α coefficient = 0.733) and an excellent test-retest reliability over a two-week period (ICC = 0.861); (2) the previously reported significant associations between the overprotection/overcontrol and other subtypes of childhood trauma (abuse and neglect), as well as psychopathological conditions such as depression can all be replicated using the Chinese version of CTQ-33. These results suggest that the Chinese version of CTQ-33 would be a promising tool for assessing various subtypes of childhood adversities, especially the overprotection/overcontrol experiences in Chinese populations.


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