1. Objectifs

Intentions :
This study’s «main objective was to evaluate whether exposure to childhood trauma was associated with an accumulation of risk indicators in genetically high-risk children, adolescents, and young adults. [The] secondary objective was to test whether males would be more prone to accumulate risk indicators under exposure to childhood trauma.» (p. 2) «Five types of childhood trauma were assessed: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect (emotional and physical), and witnessing domestic violence.» (p. 2)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
The study sample comprises 200 individuals between 6 and 27 years old who have «a parent with a DSM-IV [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition] diagnosis of schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BP), or major depressive disorder (MDD) […].» (p. 2) Medical records were used to gather data on childhood trauma.

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

The «findings suggest that exposure to childhood trauma in genetically high-risk youths, chiefly in young boys would be associated with the accumulation process of risk indicators across childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Considering the high predictive value of the risk accumulation on a later transition to illness, and the human and economic burden carried by families in which one parent is affected by schizophrenia, bipolar or major depressive disorder, [this] study has implications not only for the understanding of the developmental risk mechanisms but also for prevention research and intervention. The first main finding is the association of childhood trauma with the accumulation of four risk indicators (e.g., cognitive impairments, psychotic-like experiences, nonpsychotic nonmood childhood DSM diagnoses, poor global functioning) in genetically high-risk youths.» (p. 6) «The second finding is that young boys would be more vulnerable to aggregating risk indicators after exposure to childhood trauma than girls, thus making them more at risk or differently at risk of a later incidence of major psychiatric disorder.» (p. 7)