Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire

Childhood maltreatment has diverse, lifelong impact on morbidity and mortality. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is one of the most commonly used scales to assess and quantify these experiences and their impact. Curiously, despite very widespread use of the CTQ, scores on its Minimization-Denial (MD) subscale—originally designed to assess a positive response bias—are rarely reported. Hence, little is known about this measure. If response biases are either common or consequential, current practices of ignoring the MD scale deserve revision. Therewith, we designed a study to investigate 3 aspects of minimization, as defined by the CTQ’s MD scale: 1) its prevalence; 2) its latent structure; and finally 3) whether minimization moderates the CTQ’s discriminative validity in terms of distinguishing between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Archival, item-level CTQ data from 24 multinational samples were combined for a total of 19,652 participants. Analyses indicated: 1) minimization is common; 2) minimization functions as a continuous construct; and 3) high MD scores attenuate the ability of the CTQ to distinguish between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Overall, results suggest that a minimizing response bias—as detected by the MD subscale—has a small but significant moderating effect on the CTQ’s discriminative validity. Results also may suggest that some prior analyses of maltreatment rates or the effects of early maltreatment that have used the CTQ may have underestimated its incidence and impact. We caution researchers and clinicians about the widespread practice of using the CTQ without the MD or collecting MD data but failing to assess and control for its effects on outcomes or dependent variables

Attachment as an organizer of behavior: implications for substance abuse problems and willingness to seek treatment

BACKGROUND: Attachment theory allows specific predictions about the role of attachment representations in organizing behavior. Insecure attachment is hypothesized to predict maladaptive emotional regulation whereas secure attachment is hypothesized to predict adaptive emotional regulation. In this paper, we test specific hypotheses about the role of attachment representations in substance abuse/dependence and treatment participation. Based on theory, we expect divergence between levels of maladaptive functioning and adaptive methods of regulating negative emotions. METHODS: Participants for this study consist of a sample of adoptees participating in an ongoing longitudinal adoption study (n = 208). The Semi-Structured Assessment of the Genetics of Alcohol-II [41] was used to determine lifetime substance abuse/dependence and treatment participation. Attachment representations were derived by the Adult Attachment Interview [AAI; [16]]. We constructed a prior contrasts reflecting theoretical predictions for the association between attachment representations, substance abuse/dependence and treatment participation. RESULTS: Logistic regression was used to test our hypotheses. As predicted, individuals classified as dismissing, preoccupied or earned-secure reported the highest rates of substance abuse/dependence. Individuals classified as dismissing reported significantly lower rates of treatment participation despite their high rates of substance abuse/dependence. As expected, the continuous-secure group reported lowest rates of both substance abuse/dependence and treatment participation. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study identify attachment representations as an influential factor in understanding the divergence between problematic substance use and treatment utilization. The findings further imply that treatment may need to take attachment representations into account to promote successful recovery

Addressing the needs of children with disabilities experiencing disaster or terrorism

Purpose of review: This paper reviews the empirical literature on psychosocial factors relating to children with disabilities in the context of disaster or terrorism. Recent findings: Research indicates individuals with disabilities experience increased exposure to hazards due to existing social disparities and barriers associated with disability status. However, studies on the psychological effects of disaster/terrorism on children with preexisting disabilities are exceedingly few and empirical evidence of the effectiveness of trauma-focused therapies for this population is limited. Secondary adversities, including social stigma and health concerns, also compromise the recovery of these children post-disaster/terrorism. Schools and teachers appear to be particularly important in the recovery of children with disabilities to disaster. Disasters, terrorism, and war all contribute to the incidence of disability, as well as disproportionately affect children with preexisting disabilities. Summary: Disaster preparedness interventions and societal changes are needed to decrease the disproportionate environmental and social vulnerability of children with disabilities to disaster and terrorism

Implicit and explicit self-esteem discrepancies in people with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures

Abstract PURPOSE: Self-esteem (SE), or one's sense of competence and worth, is reduced in many mental and physical disorders. Low SE is associated with perceived stigma and disability and poor treatment outcomes. The present study examined implicit and explicit SE (automatic and deliberate views about the self) in people with epilepsy and people with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs). Discrepancies between implicit SE and explicit SE have been found to correlate with psychological distress in disorders often associated with PNESs but are relatively unexplored in PNESs. We hypothesized that, compared with epilepsy, PNESs would be associated with lower self-reported SE and greater discrepancies between implicit SE and explicit SE. METHODS: Thirty adults with PNESs, 25 adults with epilepsy, and 31 controls without a history of seizures were asked to complete the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale as a measure of explicit SE and an Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure as a measure of implicit SE. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (a somatic symptom inventory) were also administered. RESULTS: We found significant group differences in explicit (p<0.001) but not implicit SE. Patients with PNESs reported lower SE than the other groups. No group differences were found in implicit SE. Implicit-explicit SE discrepancies were larger in the group with PNESs than in the other groups (p<0.001). Higher frequency of PNESs (but not epileptic seizures) was associated with lower explicit SE (rs=-.83, p<0.01) and greater SE discrepancies (i.e., lower explicit relative to implicit SE; rs=.65, p<0.01). These relationships remained significant when controlling for anxiety and somatization. CONCLUSION: Patients with PNESs had lower explicit SE than those with epilepsy or healthy controls. In keeping with our expectations, there were greater discrepancies between implicit SE and explicit SE among patients with PNESs than in the other groups. Our results, including the strong relationship between PNES frequency, anxiety, and explicit-implicit SE discrepancies, support the interpretation that PNESs serve to reduce cognitive dissonance, perhaps protecting patients' implicit SE

Childhood emotional trauma and cyberbullying perpetration among emerging adults: a multiple mediation model of the role of problematic social media use and psychopathology

Research suggests that a small minority of social media users experience problems as a result of their online use. The purpose of the present study was to examine the association of cyberbullying perpetration and problematic social media use with childhood emotional trauma, Cluster B (narcissistic, histrionic, antisocial, and borderline) personality traits, dissociative experiences (DEs), depression, and self-esteem in a nonclinical undergraduate sample. A total of 344 university students volunteered to complete a questionnaire that included measures on the aforementioned dimensions. Thirty-eight percent of the participants had emotional neglect and 27% had emotional abuse, while 44% of them demonstrated at least one cyberbullying perpetration behavior. Results indicated that cyberbullying perpetrators had higher scores on problematic social media use, dissociative experiences, Cluster B traits, depression and childhood emotional trauma, and lower on self-esteem. Path analysis demonstrated that, while adjusting for gender and age, childhood emotional trauma was directly and indirectly associated with cyberbullying perpetration via Cluster B traits. Moreover, depression and dissociation were directly associated with problematic social media use. The findings of this study emphasize the important direct role of childhood emotional trauma and pathological personality traits on cyberbullying perpetration

Binge eating behaviours and food cravings in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine condition in women, is often anecdotally associated with binge eating behaviours and food cravings; however there is a paucity of research. This study aimed to report the prevalence of binge eating and food cravings and their relation to obesity risk in women with PCOS. Participants completed an online survey including the Bulimia Investigatory Test, Edinburgh, Food Cravings-Trait Questionnaire and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire revised-18. The study included obese (n = 340), overweight (n = 70) and lean (n = 45) women with PCOS and lean healthy women (n = 40). Sixty percent of obese women with PCOS were categorised with binge-eating behaviour, with 39% presenting with clinically significant behaviour. Obese women with PCOS presented with high mean food cravings-trait scores (131.6 ± 28.9) that were significantly greater compared with lean (114.0 ± 34.9) and overweight women with PCOS (120.1 ± 29.5; p < 0.001). Multiple regression exploring relations between eating styles and adiposity explained 59% of the variance in binge eating symptom scores in women with PCOS (F = 173.8; p < 0.001, n = 463): significant predictors were food cravings total score (beta = 0.52; p < 0.001), emotional eating score (beta = 0.16; p < 0.001), BMI (beta = 0.13; p < 0.001) and uncontrolled eating score (beta = 0.10; p < 0.01). Compared with lean healthy women, lean women with PCOS exhibited significantly higher binge eating symptom scores (10.9 ± 7.8 versus 7.4 ± 6.0; p < 0.05), though similar total food craving scores (114.0 ± 34.9 versus 105.6 ± 26.6: NS). This study is the largest, to date, to robustly report that a high proportion of women with PCOS exhibit binge eating behaviours. We recommend screening women with PCOS for binge eating behaviours to help inform the choice of weight management approach for this clinical population

Data for: Coming home: Fatherhood following release from prison

DATA of study examining the paternal practice of released prisoner