Abstract
Background: Childhood traumatic experiences have been consistently associated with psychosis risk; however, the specificity of childhood trauma type to interview-based attenuated positive psychotic symptoms has not been adequately explored. Further, previous studies examining specificity of trauma to specific positive symptoms have not accounted for co-occurring trauma types, despite evidence of multiple victimization. Methods: We examined the relationship between childhood trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) with type of attenuated positive symptom, as measured by the Structured Interview for Psychosis-risk Syndromes (SIPS) among a non-clinical, young adult sample (n = 130). Linear regressions were conducted to predict each attenuated positive symptom, with all trauma types entered into the model to control for co-occurring traumas. Results: Results indicated that childhood sexual abuse was significantly associated with disorganized communication and childhood emotional neglect was significantly associated with increased suspiciousness/persecutory ideas, above and beyond the effect of other co-occurring traumas. These relationships were significant even after removing individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis (n = 14). Conclusions: Our results suggest that there are differential influences of trauma type on specific positive symptom domains, even in a non-clinical sample. Our results also confirm the importance of controlling for co-occurring trauma types, as results differ when not controlling for multiple traumas.
Highlights
One-third of the general population will experience traumatic life events (TLEs) at some point in their lifetime [1]
A large study examining hallucinations in the general population found that childhood neglect and childhood sexual abuse were related to visual hallucinations, and childhood sexual abuse and physical abuse were related to tactile hallucinations [27]; this study examined frank hallucinations within a non-clinical sample rather than attenuated positive symptoms (APS) or psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and did not assess for other positive symptoms, such as delusions
Future studies should examine the role of other variables that may influence the trauma–APS relationship, such as substance or medication usage and demographic factors such as race and perceived discrimination. These findings resolve several issues prominent within the psychosis and trauma symptom specificity literature. This is the first study in a non-clinical population to account for multiple victimization when exploring the relationship between trauma type and specific attenuated positive symptoms
Summary
One-third of the general population will experience traumatic life events (TLEs) at some point in their lifetime [1]. Childhood trauma has been found to have a dose-dependent relationship with psychosis, with the more traumatic events experienced predicting greater amounts of psychotic symptoms in those with schizophrenia [6], and exposure to multiple types of traumas, termed multiple or poly-victimization, has been associated with even greater risk for developing psychotic symptoms [7,8]. Childhood traumatic experiences have been consistently associated with psychosis risk; the specificity of childhood trauma type to interview-based attenuated positive psychotic symptoms has not been adequately explored. Results: Results indicated that childhood sexual abuse was significantly associated with disorganized communication and childhood emotional neglect was significantly associated with increased suspiciousness/persecutory ideas, above and beyond the effect of other co-occurring traumas These relationships were significant even after removing individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis (n = 14). Our results confirm the importance of controlling for co-occurring trauma types, as results differ when not controlling for multiple traumas
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