Effects of childhood trauma on HPA-axis reactivity in women free of lifetime psychopathology

Exposure to childhood trauma may induce persistent changes in Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA)-axis functioning even in the absence of current psychopathology. Because previous studies did not systematically exclude subjects with lifetime psychiatric morbidity, prevalent psychopathology may have confounded the association. In this study we investigated whether women exposed to childhood trauma, but without a history of psychiatric disorders, show alterations in HPA-axis functioning. We included 10 women exposed to significant childhood trauma and 12 non-exposed women. All women were between 29 and 64 years old, mentally and physically healthy, and without current or lifetime psychopathology. HPA-axis functioning was assessed as 1) basal activity with salivary cortisol patterns over 8 time points on two consecutive sampling days and 2) plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) reactivity over 7 time points after the combined dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone (dex/CRH) challenge test. Basal salivary cortisol output did not differ between trauma-exposed compared to non-exposed women. Significantly blunted plasma cortisol and ACTH responses in response to dex/CRH administration were found in the trauma-exposed compared to the non-exposed women (F(1,20) = 5.08, p = 0.04 and F(1,20) = 5.23, p = 0.03 respectively). Adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), oral contraceptive use, and menopausal status, somewhat weakened the associations for cortisol as well as ACTH (F(1,16) = 3.30, p = 0.09) and F(1,16) = 2.17, p = 0.16 respectively), but for cortisol absolute differences in point estimates were largely unaffected. Although basal cortisol patterns were similar in the two groups, exposure to childhood trauma seemed to be related to a blunted HPA-axis reactivity in women who were free of current or lifetime psychopathology.     

童年创伤与青少年抑郁症的关系

目的:研究童年创伤经历与青少年抑郁症的关系。方法:采用童年期创伤问卷(CTQ-SF)、一般情况调查表对52例青少年抑郁症患者及正常对照组48例进行测查。结果:青少年抑郁症患者情感虐待、情感忽视、性虐待及躯体忽视4因素进入Logistic回归方程。情感虐待(Waldχ2=9.163,P0.01),情感忽视(Waldχ2=4.750,P0.05),性虐待(Waldχ2=4.519,P0.05),躯体忽视(Waldχ2=4.602,P0.05)。结论:青少年抑郁症患者童年期的情感虐待、情感忽视、性虐待及躯体忽视是抑郁症发病的危险因素。     

儿童期创伤问卷在中国高校大学生中应用的信效度研究

目的:将儿童期创伤问卷(CTQ-SF)用于我国大学生人群,对其信度和效度进行研究。方法:采用整群分层抽样的方法,以CTQ-SF对593名大学一年级学生进行施测。结果:CTQ-SF大学生样本各量表的(除了躯体忽视量表外)重测相关为0.43-0.82,总分为0.71;分半信度系数经Spearman-Brown公式矫正所得的结果为0.45～0.70,总分为0.55;α系数为0.51～0.71,总分为0.60;大学生男女比较除了情绪虐待一项无差异外,其余各量表男生分数都显著高于女性(P<0.01);大学生样本在各项分数上都显著低于人格障碍样本(P <0.001)。对CTQ-SF进行验证性因素分析结果表明量表的五个因子模式符合原量表的理论构想。结论:在我国文化背景下将美国的儿童创伤问卷用于大学生群体,信度和效度尚好,有一定的适用性,但是躯体忽视量表的某些条目需做一定的调整。