Is developmental timing of trauma exposure associated with depressive and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in adulthood?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Trauma exposure is a known risk factor for psychopathology. However, the impact of the developmental timing of exposure remains unclear. This study examined the effect of age at first trauma exposure on levels of adult depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

Methods

Lifetime trauma exposure (including age at first exposure and frequency), current psychiatric symptoms, and sociodemographic information were collected during interviews with adults participating in a study at a public urban hospital in Atlanta, GA. Multiple linear regression models assessed the association between timing of first trauma exposure, classified as early childhood (ages 0-5), middle childhood (ages 6-10), adolescence (ages 11-18), and adulthood (ages 19+), on adult ps

SUBMITTER: Dunn EC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5479490 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature