The influence of affectivity on the association between childhood adversities and personality pathology during adulthood

INTRODUÇÃO: As adversidades na infância são experiências comuns e associadas a uma série de desfechos negativos ao longo da vida. Maus tratos e disfunção familiar também estão implicados em transtornos de personalidade na idade adulta, mas ainda não foram esclarecidos os mecanismos e processos subjacentes. OBJETIVOS: O objetivo principal é investigar a associação entre adversidades na infância e patologia da personalidade na população adulta residente na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo. Será testada a hipótese de que essa relação seja mediada por traços de afetividade positiva e negativa. Também será avaliada a prevalência das adversidades na infância, a sua distribuição e agregação, assim como a epidemiologia dos transtornos da personalidade, ainda amplamente desconhecida no Brasil devido à falta de estudos com amostras representativas da nossa população. MÉTODOS: Os dados foram provenientes do São Paulo Megacity, estudo com uma amostra representativa dos adultos residentes na Grande São Paulo (n=2.942). Foram utilizadas regressão multivariada, análise multinível e modelagem de equações estruturais. RESULTADOS: Mais da metade (53,6%) dos adultos da Grande São Paulo relatou alguma adversidade na infância, sendo as mais comuns a morte parental, o abuso físico e a violência familiar. Em geral, essas experiências não ocorreram de maneira isolada, especialmente as consideradas mais graves, como o abuso sexual. Também foi elevada a prevalência de patologia da personalidade: 6,8% dos adultos apresentaram algum transtorno, sendo mais comum o Cluster C (4,6%), seguido pelos Clusters A (4,3%) e B (2,7%). Esses quadros estavam independentemente associados a prejuízos funcionais, especialmente nos domínios cognitivo e de interação social. Entretanto, com exceção do Cluster C, não houve associação com uso de serviços de saúde após o ajuste para outros diagnósticos psiquiátricos. Todos os transtornos da personalidade estavam associados a adversidades na infância, e a maior ocorrência foi encontrada no Cluster B (71,8%). Os eventos mais relacionados foram abuso físico, psicopatologia parental, criminalidade parental e violência familiar. Essas relações respeitaram um gradiente dose-resposta: quanto maior o número de exposições, maior a probabilidade de transtorno da personalidade. Essas associações foram parcialmente mediadas pelo aumento do afeto negativo, mas não pela diminuição do afeto positivo. CONCLUSÕES: As adversidades na infância são experiências frequentes, que tendem a se agregar em redes complexas, indicando a existência de contextos abusivos. Os expostos têm uma probabilidade aumentada de patologia da personalidade, quadros com significativas repercussões funcionais. Os resultados ressaltam a necessidade de se investigar uma história de eventos adversos na infância e abordar as suas consequências afetivas em pacientes com transtornos da personalidade. Esse estudo também pode trazer alguma contribuição à Saúde Pública. Possivelmente, o esclarecimento dessas cadeias de eventos pode ajudar no delineamento de potenciais alvos para intervenção. Estratégias preventivas, como o treinamento de habilidades parentais, podem ser direcionadas às famílias sob maior risco, e as crianças e adolescentes que já foram expostos podem ser elegíveis para programas voltados à regulação emocional. Investigações futuras devem avaliar se essas estratégias podem reduzir a ocorrência e o ônus associado aos transtornos da personalidadeINTRODUCTION: Childhood adversities are common experiences associated with a series of negative outcomes throughout the life cycle. Child abuse and family dysfunction are also related to personality disorders in adulthood, but the underlying mechanisms and processes are yet to be clarified. OBJECTIVES: The main objective is to investigate the relationship between childhood adversities and personality pathology on the adult population residing in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area. The study will also test the hypothesis that this association is mediated by positive and negative affectivity traits. Furthermore, it will estimate the prevalence of childhood adversities, its distribution and aggregation, as well as the epidemiology of personality disorders, still largely unknown in Brazil due to the lack of studies with representative samples of our population. METHODS: Data come from Sao Paulo Megacity, a survey with a representative sample of adults residing in Greater Sao Paulo (n=2,942). Analyses used multivariate regression, multilevel analysis and structural equation modeling. RESULTS: More than half (53.6%) of the adults in Greater Sao Paulo reported any childhood adversity, and the most common were parental death, physical abuse and family violence. In general, these experiences did not occur in isolation, especially those considered more serious, such as sexual abuse. The prevalence of personality pathology was also high: 6.8% of the adults had any personality disorder. Cluster C was the most frequent condition (4.6%), followed by Clusters A (4.3%) and B (2.7%). These disorders were independently associated with functional impairment, especially in cognitive and social interaction domains. However, with the exception of Cluster C, there was no association with health services use after control for other psychiatric diagnoses. All personality disorders were related to childhood adversities, and the most frequent occurrence was detected in Cluster B (71.8%). The mostly associated events were physical abuse, parental psychopathology, parental criminality and family violence. Associations followed a dose-response gradient: the greater the number of exposures, the greater the probability of a personality disorder. These relationships were partially mediated by an increase in negative affect, but not by a decrease in positive affect. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood adversities are frequent and tend to aggregate in complex networks, indicating the existence of contexts of abuse. The exposed have an increased probability of personality pathology, a group of conditions with significant functional repercussions. These results highlight the need of investigating a history of childhood adverse events and targeting its affective consequences in patients with personality disorders. This study may also have some contribution to public health efforts. Perhaps the clarification of these chains of events allows delineating potential targets for intervention. Prevention strategies, such as parenting skills training, may be directed to at-risk families, and already exposed children and adolescents may be eligible to programs aiming emotional regulation. Future studies should evaluate if these strategies can reduce the occurrence and the burden associated with personality disorder

Do Childhood Adversities Predict Suicidality? Findings from the General Population of the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo, Brazil.

BACKGROUND:Childhood adversities have been associated with a number of medical and psychiatric outcomes. However, the reported effects that specific childhood adversities have on suicidality vary across studies. METHOD:This was a cross-sectional, stratified, multistage area probability investigation of a general population in Brazil, designated the São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey. The World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview was applied in 5037 individuals ≥ 18 years of age, in order to assess 12 different adversities occurring during childhood and/or adolescence, as well as to look for associations between those adversities and subsequent suicidality in different age strata. RESULTS:Over half of the respondents reported at least one childhood adversity. Only physical abuse was consistently associated with suicide attempts in all subsequent life stages (OR = 2.1). Among adults 20-29 years of age, the likelihood of a suicide attempt was correlated with parental divorce, whereas suicidal ideation was associated with prior sexual abuse. Among adults over 30 years of age, physical illness and economic adversity emerged as relevant childhood adversities associated with suicide attempts, whereas sexual abuse, family violence, and economic adversity were associated with suicidal ideation. CONCLUSION:Childhood adversities, especially physical abuse, are likely associated with unfavorable consequences in subsequent years. For suicidality across a lifespan, the role of different childhood adversities must be examined independently

The Influence of Parental Psychopathology on Offspring Suicidal Behavior across the Lifespan

<div><p>Suicide tends to occur in families, and parental psychopathology has been linked to offspring suicidal behaviors. This study explores the influence of parental mental disorders across the lifespan. Data are from the Sao Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey, a cross-sectional household study with a representative sample of the adult population living in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area, Brazil (N=2,942). Survival models examined bivariate and multivariate associations between a range of parental disorders and offspring suicidality. After controlling for comorbidity, number of mental disorders and offspring psychopathology, we found that parental psychopathology influences suicidal behaviors throughout most part of the life cycle, from childhood until young adult years. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and antisocial personality were associated with offspring suicidal ideation (OR 1.8 and 1.9, respectively), panic and GAD predicted suicidal attempts (OR 2.3 and 2.7, respectively), and panic was related to the transition from ideation to attempts (OR 2.7). Although noticed in many different stages of the lifespan, this influence is most evident during adolescence. In this period, depression and antisocial personality increased the odds of suicidal ideation (OR 5.1 and 3.2, respectively), and depression, panic disorder, GAD and substance abuse predicted suicidal attempts (OR varying from 1.7 to 3.8). In short, parental disorders characterized by impulsive-aggression and anxiety-agitation were the main predictors of offspring suicidality across the lifespan. This clinically relevant intergenerational transmission of suicide risk was independent of offspring mental disorders, and this underscores the need for a family approach to psychopathology.</p></div

Final multivariate model for associations between child adversity and lifetime (LT) suicidality¹.

<p>Final multivariate model for associations between child adversity and lifetime (LT) suicidality<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0155639#t005fn002" target="_blank">¹</a>.</p

Descriptive characteristics of the participants of São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey (N = 5,037).

<p>Descriptive characteristics of the participants of São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey (N = 5,037).</p

Associations between the number of child adversities and lifetime suicidality¹,^†.

<p>Associations between the number of child adversities and lifetime suicidality<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0155639#t004fn003" target="_blank">¹</a>,<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0155639#t004fn002" target="_blank">^†</a>.</p