Effects Of Adverse Experiences Research Articles

Psychopathology as long-term sequelae of maltreatment and socioeconomic disadvantage: Neurocognitive development perspectives.

Neuroscience research underscores the critical impact of adverse experiences on brain development. Yet, there is limited understanding of the specific pathways linking adverse experiences to accelerated or delayed brain development and their ultimate contributions to psychopathology. Here, we present new longitudinal data demonstrating that neurocognitive functioning during adolescence, as affected by adverse experiences, predicts psychopathology during young adulthood. The sample included 167 participants (52% male) assessed in adolescence and young adulthood. Adverse experiences were measured by early maltreatment experiences and low family socioeconomic status. Cognitive control was assessed by neural activation and behavioral performance during the Multi-Source Interference Task. Psychopathology was measured by self-reported internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Results indicated that higher maltreatment predicted heightened frontoparietal activation during cognitive control, indicating delayed neurodevelopment, which, in turn predicted higher internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Furthermore, higher maltreatment predicted a steeper decline in frontoparietal activation across adolescence, indicating neural plasticity in cognitive control-related brain development, which was associated with lower internalizing symptomatology. Our results elucidate the crucial role of neurocognitive development in the processes linking adverse experiences and psychopathology. Implications of the findings and directions for future research on the effects of adverse experiences on brain development are discussed.

Ethnic inequalities during clinical placement: A qualitative study of student nurses' experiences within the London National Health Service.

To understand how student nurse experiences on clinical placement, within National Health Service (NHS) hospitals, differ for ethnic minority and White British groups. A qualitative thematic analysis with an inductive approach. Data from semi-structured interviews with 21 London (United Kingdom) hospital-based student nurses were examined using thematic analysis. Participants were interviewed as part of the Tackling Inequalities and Discrimination Experiences in Health Services (TIDES) study and asked about their experiences during clinical placement. Five main themes were identified: (1) Role of mentors, (2) Discrimination and unfair treatment, (3) Speaking up/out, (4) Career progression, and (5) Consequences of adverse experiences. All themes were linked, with the social dynamics and workplace environment (referred to as "ward culture") providing a context that normalizes mistreatment experienced by nursing students. Students from ethnic minority backgrounds reported racism as well as cultural and/or religious microaggressions. While being valued for their race and ethnicity, White British students also experienced discrimination and inequity due to their age, sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Students from both White British and ethnic minority groups acknowledged that being treated badly was a barrier to career progression. Ethnic minority students also noted the lack of diverse representation within senior nursing positions discouraged career progression within the UK NHS. These initial experiences of inequality and discrimination are liable to shape a student's perspective of their profession and ability to progress within nursing. The NHS is responsible for ensuring that student nurses' developmental opportunities are equal, irrespective of ethnicity. Ward culture is perpetuated by others who normalize mistreatment and concurrently disadvantage ethnic minority students, making them feel unvalued. This in turn impacts both staff retention and career progression within the NHS. Training assessors should be aware of the existing culture of discrimination within clinical placements and work to eradicate it.

The psychological determinants of emotional and external eating behavior in a university student sample from Turkey

Psychological factors and adverse childhood events at an early age have been poorly investigated in relation to risky eating behavior and obesity. The importance of this relationship grows as these behaviors are becoming public health problems. The main objective of the present study was to examine the effects of interrelated psychological factors such as childhood negative life events, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and impulsivity on eating behaviors in a university student sample in Turkey. A total of 414 undergraduate students (60.4% women) in Turkey, completed the Turkish versions of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) to assess emotional eating and external eating and the CDC-Kaiser Permanent Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Barratt Impulsivity Scale-11 (BSI-11). Structural equation models (SEM) were used to evaluate whether depressive/anxiety symptoms could be a mediator between impulsivity and emotional eating/external eating. Childhood adverse events were both weakly correlated with eating behavior and impulsivity measures (r = .18,r = .275, p <.001, respectively). Depression and anxiety levels were found to be significantly associated with all variables except for the body mass index (BMI; r = .121?.395, p <.001). Body mass index (BMI) was also significantly correlated with emotional eating (r = .231, p <.001) and restrained eating (r = .226, p <.001). Impulsivity was positively and directly associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression and emotional and external eating (respectively ? = .27, p <.001; ? = .31, p <.001; ? = .16, p = .006; ? = .13, p = .047). The effect of adverse experiences on both emotional eating (? = .147; 95% CI [.087, .247]) and external eating (? = .091; 95% CI [.032, .168]) was found to be partially mediated by impulsivity and symptoms of anxiety and depression. The results supported the proposition that symptoms of depression and anxiety levels are mediators between impulsivity and emotional eating/ external eating. This finding suggests that a through psychological assessment should be taken into consideration when evaluating the eating behavior of university students and prevention and treatment strategies applied for disordered eating behaviors in the future.

Perceived Discrimination as a Mediator of ACEs and Psychological Distress

The authors investigated the role of perceived discrimination in the association between adverse childhood experiences and psychological distress in adulthood in a sample of individuals (n = 125) at a university-based couple and family therapy clinic. Results showed that a majority had experienced four or more adverse experiences, indicating a high risk of negative health outcomes. A significant indirect effect of adverse experiences through perceived discrimination on psychological distress, even with gender, race/ethnicity, and household income as covariates, was noted. Findings underscore the importance of incorporating assessment of perceived discrimination in therapy with clients presenting with childhood adversity and psychological distress.

The Impact of Cyberstalking

To access the diversity of the population who define themselves as having been cyberstalked and to assess the levels of anxiety and trauma that victims reported. Participants who were self-defined cyberstalking victims (N = 353) were asked to complete an online survey, which consisted of items relating to the experience of offline harassment and cyberstalking, general anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Participants were also asked to report on the type of relationship they had with the harasser, changes in working life, relationships, finance and third parties subsequent to the experience of being stalked. Overall, the findings revealed that victims of harassment may suffer high levels of psychological distress as a consequence of the experience, with victims of cyberstalking experiencing psychological effects which are broadly comparable to the symptoms seen in PTSD, leaving the victim experiencing feelings of isolation, irritability and guilt. In addition, as with other research on the effects of adverse experiences on mental health outcomes, the respondents of the survey reported much higher levels of psychological distress than levels that have been reported in the general population. It is suggested that both offline and cyberstalking victims suffer comparable high levels of psychological distress as a consequence of the experience and, despite the wide variation in individual experience and reactions to being cyberstalked, this study was able to determine patterns of psychological distress which were comparable to the symptoms associated with PTSD. Individuals displaying symptoms of PTSD find themselves experiencing adverse effects in major domains of life activity, such as social relations and occupational activities.

Dopamine receptor DRD4 gene and stressful life events in persistent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

We performed a case-control association study in persistent ADHD considering eight candidate genes (DRD4, DAT1/SLC6A3, COMT, ADRA2A, CES1, CYP2D6, LPHN3, and OPRM1) and found additional evidence for the involvement of the Dup 120bp and VNTR 48bp functional variants within the dopamine receptor DRD4 gene in the etiology of adult ADHD. We subsequently investigated the interaction of stressful life events with these two DRD4 polymorphisms, and the impact of such events on the severity of ADHD symptomatology. The gene-by-environment analysis revealed an independent effect of stressful experiences on the severity of persistent ADHD, and a gene-by-environment interaction on the inattentive dimension of the disorder, where non carriers of the Dup 120bp (L) - VNTR 48bp (7R) haplotype were more sensitive to environmental adversity than carriers. These results are in agreement with previous works reporting a relationship between DRD4 and the effect of adverse experiences, which may explain the discordant findings in previous genetic studies and strengthen the importance of gene-by-environment interactions on the severity of ADHD. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Psychological vulnerability differences in students—Carriers or not of the serotonin transporter promoter allele S: Effect of adverse experiences

To study the effect of the serotonin transporting gene L/S polymorphism on several psychological characteristics in a group of Greek University students. One hundred eighty-one students were genotyped and classified into two groups: carriers or noncarriers of an S allele. Students were evaluated with a battery of psychological tests (Zung depression rating scale, symptoms check-list-90-R, Eysenck personality inventory); they also answered questionnaires regarding serious past adverse experiences as well as nicotine and alcohol use. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to check the main effect of genotype and its interaction with both adverse life experiences and scores of psychological tests. No significant differences were detected between the two groups of students regarding scores of the psychological tests. Yet, analysis with MANOVA indicated an interaction between genotype and adversities (lambda = 0.838, F(17,158) = 1.802, P = 0.032). Students who both carry at least one S allele and have faced serious past adverse life experiences have scored higher than carriers of the S allele who have not faced adversities on the following: global severity index (F(1174) = 5.973, P = 0.016), positive symptoms distress index (F(1174) = 4.518, P = 0.035), somatization (F(1174) = 4.074, P = 0.045), depression (F(1174) = 4.971, P = 0.027), anxiety (F(1174) = 8.112, P = 0.005), phobic anxiety (F(1174) = 16.421, P < 0.000), and paranoid ideation (F(1174) = 5.143, P = 0.025). Among students without adversities, those with the LL genotype have scored higher than S allele carriers on the following: depression (t = 2.680, df = 75, P = 0.009), anxiety (t = 2.629, df = 75, P = 0.010), phobic anxiety (t = 3.350, df = 75, P = 0.001), and paranoid ideation (t = 2.668, df = 75, P = 0.009). The S and L alleles seem to interact differently with serious past life adversities in influencing psychological vulnerability. Adversities seem to have a stronger effect on S carriers. LL genotype might be related to the expression of certain more endogenous psychopathological tendencies.

The Primacy of Early Experience: A Critique, an Alternative, and Some Clinical Implications

The author critically examines the concept that early childhood experience plays a centrally important role in psychological development. This principle is contradicted by a wide range of evidence, most particularly that the cumulative effect of adverse experiences is more important than timing, and that children are resilient to a wide range of adverse events. An alternative model is offered, rooted in the interactions between temperament and childhood experiences. Some clinical implications of the model are also explored.