The occurrence of traumatic experiences in early life is associated with increased vulnerability to psychiatric disorders. The objective of this study is to integrate childhood trauma (CT) and...Show moreThe occurrence of traumatic experiences in early life is associated with increased vulnerability to psychiatric disorders. The objective of this study is to integrate childhood trauma (CT) and emotional eating (EE) with anxiety to show how implementing tailored treatment in standard therapy benefits overall health. This study is the first of its kind to investigate these variables. Three research questions are explored, all using regression analysis: first, is there an association between CT and EE in healthy controls (no diagnosis of anxiety or depression) and with diagnosed anxiety, second, what role does anxiety play in EE and what is the moderating effect of anxiety on CT and EE. The third investigates the five subtypes of childhood trauma (emotional, sexual, physical abuse, emotional and physical neglect) and its association with EE. The population was taken from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), a total of 1391 participants were included with either a lifetime diagnosed anxiety disorder or healthy controls. There was a significant positive association between CT and EE when controlled for anxiety. EE was higher in participants with an anxiety disorder relative to controls. Emotional abuse had the strongest association with EE, physical abuse had no significant association. The findings provide evidence that risk groups with childhood trauma and emotional eating would benefit from tailored interventions such as mindfulness, emotional regulation and dialectal behaviour therapy. Future research is recommended to investigate factors such as gender and depression to understand the extent of symptomology and ensure successful treatment.Show less
This study investigated the relationship between childhood trauma, emotion dysregulation, dissociative psychopathology, and aggression in adult female ADHD and BPD patients. The study aimed to...Show moreThis study investigated the relationship between childhood trauma, emotion dysregulation, dissociative psychopathology, and aggression in adult female ADHD and BPD patients. The study aimed to determine whether childhood maltreatment predicted aggression and if emotion dysregulation and dissociation mediated this relationship. Methods: The study included eighty-six women (n=29 patients with BPD, n=28 patients with ADHD; and n=29 healthy controls, HC) recruited from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany. Childhood trauma was measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which assessed various forms of abuse and neglect. Aggression was measured using the Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), which assessed physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility. Emotion dysregulation was assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), which measured six dimensions of emotion regulation difficulties. Dissociation was measured using the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES), which assessed various aspects of dissociative psychopathology. Results: The results revealed that childhood maltreatment had a significant effect on aggression, mediated by emotion dysregulation but not dissociation. Furthermore, scores for aggression, emotion dysregulation, and dissociation were higher in the ADHD and BPD groups compared to healthy controls. These findings suggest a need for clinical emphasis on trauma-informed care and emotion regulation strategies. Additionally, the study highlighted the necessity of future research on gender differences in these relationships, providing an impetus for personalised treatment strategies. Conclusion: This study emphasises the crucial role of childhood trauma and emotion dysregulation in managing aggression in female ADHD and BPD patients.Show less
One of the many common consequences of experiencing trauma in childhood is a tendency to develop psychopathological symptoms in adolescence and early adulthood. A growing area of psychological...Show moreOne of the many common consequences of experiencing trauma in childhood is a tendency to develop psychopathological symptoms in adolescence and early adulthood. A growing area of psychological research is focusing on uncovering factors that make certain children resilient to the development of these symptoms. According to a study done by Kasparek et al. in 2020, behavioral sensitivity to reward is one such resiliency factor. They found that reward sensitivity moderates the relationship between childhood trauma and developing externalizing symptoms later in life. The present study assessed the robustness of Kasparek et al.’s results via regression analysis and F-tests for equality of variance. This was done using a modified bootstrapping method to remove increasing percentages of participants from random, central, and extreme values of the sample. Despite the significant changes in F-values between the subsamples, the interaction coefficient itself remained relatively stable in the central and extreme conditions, indicating a moderately high probability that the interaction effect does exist in the real world.Show less
Adults who have experienced trauma in their childhood risk having a wide range of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there may be protective factors...Show moreAdults who have experienced trauma in their childhood risk having a wide range of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there may be protective factors that could explain why not all victims develop psychopathology in adulthood. One of these potential factors is ‘psychological resilience’: a cognitive process that determines if an individual is able to bounce back from a negative experience through flexible adaptation. The current study aims to examine the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms, along with the possible moderating impact of psychological resilience on this relationship. This was investigated with a cross-sectional design, by means of an online selfreport questionnaire performed by 26 Dutch women aged 25 to 62 years of whom most had experienced some type of trauma. The data was collected using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SR), the PTSD Checklist for DSM-V (PCL-5) and the Resilience Evaluation Scale (RES). The results of a multiple regression analysis demonstrated that, as expected, women who experienced more childhood trauma showed an increased amount of PTSD symptoms (R² = .614, p ≤ .000), and that women with a higher level of resilience showed a lower amount of PTSD symptoms (R² = .74, p ≤ .000). However, resilience cannot be considered as a moderator of the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms, as the interaction between childhood trauma and resilience was not significant (p = .179). Instead, the study did find that women who experienced more childhood trauma show lower levels of resilience (r = -.574, p = < .005). The current study recommends future studies to examine what exact role resilience has in the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms. In addition, it emphasizes to boost resilience in victims of childhood trauma, because it may decrease the likelihood of developing PTSD symptoms in adulthood.Show less
In this BA thesis, emotional, neurobiological, and cognitive factors were investigated in respect of the language use differences between the alters of DID patients. Existing studies on DID and...Show moreIn this BA thesis, emotional, neurobiological, and cognitive factors were investigated in respect of the language use differences between the alters of DID patients. Existing studies on DID and language processing were used to formulate several hypotheses, which were tested in a single-case study. The results indicate emotional differences linked to all three factors combined were most influential in state-dependent language use. Along several other recommendations, this study advises a case study focussing solely on the emotional expression of different alters as the next step in researching this topic.Show less
