Most cited article - PubMed ID 31936285
The Unholy Trinity: Childhood Trauma, Adulthood Anxiety, and Long-Term Pain
OBJECTIVE: There is evidence that experiencing childhood trauma and life stressors across the lifespan together with lower resilience is associated with chronic pain-related conditions. The aim of this study was to explore the potential mediating role of resilience in the relationship between childhood trauma and long-term pain and to explore a possible moderating role of serious life stressors in the last year. METHODS: The participants, drawn from a representative sample of citizens of the Czech Republic (n = 1800, mean age: 46.6 years, 48.7% male), were asked to report various long-term pain conditions, childhood trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, CTQ), life stressors (Life Stressor Checklist Revised, LSC-R) and resilience (Brief Resilience Scale, BRS) in a cross-sectional face-to-face study conducted in 2016. A conditional process SEM model of moderated mediation was performed. RESULTS: The occurrence of life stress events affecting the participant's last year moderated the relationship between childhood trauma, resilience and health. In the group of participants who experienced at least one life stress event affecting their last year, resilience fully mediated the effect of past childhood trauma on long-term pain. In participants who did not experience life stressors with an impact on the last year, the direct path from childhood trauma to health through resilience lost its significance. CONCLUSION: The subjective meaning of stress events on one's life has an impact on the trajectory between childhood trauma and health and acts as a moderator. Resilience may buffer the negative effect of trauma on later long-term pain.
- Keywords
- Childhood trauma, Life stressors with high impact on the last year, Long-term pain, Moderated mediation model, Resilience,
- MeSH
- Chronic Pain * MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Perception MeSH
- Cross-Sectional Studies MeSH
- Surveys and Questionnaires MeSH
- Resilience, Psychological * MeSH
- Stress, Psychological MeSH
- Check Tag
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
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.
- Keywords
- Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect, sexual abuse, validation,
- MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Surveys and Questionnaires standards MeSH
- Psychometrics MeSH
- Retrospective Studies MeSH
- Child Abuse * diagnosis MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Validation Study MeSH
- Geographicals
- Slovakia epidemiology MeSH
BACKGROUND: People exposed to childhood trauma show insecure attachment patterns and are more prone to chronic and pain-related conditions, including migraine. The aim of this study was to explore the mediating role of attachment in the association between childhood trauma and adulthood chronic health conditions, with a focus on migraine. METHODS: Respondents from a representative sample of citizens of the Czech Republic (n = 1800, mean age: 46.6 years, 48.7% male) were asked to report various chronic and pain-related conditions, childhood trauma (The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, CTQ), and attachment anxiety and avoidance (The Experience in Close Relationships Revised, ECR-R) in a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey conducted in 2016. Structural equation models (SEM) adjusted for sociodemographic variables were used to assess the relationship between childhood trauma, adulthood attachment, and adulthood chronic health conditions (migraine, other pain-related conditions, chronic health conditions other than pain, no chronic health complaints). RESULTS: After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, SEM confirmed a significant mediation of the relationship between childhood trauma and migraine through adulthood attachment. There was no mediation effect of adulthood attachment found in other health complaints. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the mediation effect of attachment in the link between childhood trauma and migraine. Attachment-based therapeutic interventions can be useful in the treatment of patients with migraine.
- Keywords
- attachment, childhood trauma, health, mediating effect, migraine,
- MeSH
- Adult Survivors of Child Abuse * MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Migraine Disorders * epidemiology MeSH
- Object Attachment * MeSH
- Cross-Sectional Studies MeSH
- Anxiety Disorders epidemiology MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic epidemiology MeSH