Association of Childhood Abuse with Incident Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Adulthood in a Longitudinal Cohort of Women.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Exposure to severe stressors may alter immune function and augment inflammation and cytokine release, increasing risk of autoimmune disease. We examined whether childhood abuse was associated with a heightened risk of incident systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods

Data were drawn from the Nurses' Health Study II, a cohort of US female nurses enrolled in 1989, followed with biennial questionnaires. We measured childhood physical and emotional abuse with the Physical and Emotional Abuse Subscale of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and sexual abuse with the Sexual Maltreatment Scale of the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale, both administered in 2001. We identified incident SLE (≥ 4 American College of Rheumatology 1997 classification criteria) through 2015.

SUBMITTER: Feldman CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6856423 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature