Dataset Information

Minimization of Childhood Maltreatment Is Common and Consequential: Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

ABSTRACT: Childhood maltreatment has diverse, lifelong impact on morbidity and mortality. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is one of the most commonly used scales to assess and quantify these experiences and their impact. Curiously, despite very widespread use of the CTQ, scores on its Minimization-Denial (MD) subscale-originally designed to assess a positive response bias-are rarely reported. Hence, little is known about this measure. If response biases are either common or consequential, current practices of ignoring the MD scale deserve revision. Therewith, we designed a study to investigate 3 aspects of minimization, as defined by the CTQ's MD scale: 1) its prevalence; 2) its latent structure; and finally 3) whether minimization moderates the CTQ's discriminative validity in terms of distinguishing between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Archival, item-level CTQ data from 24 multinational samples were combined for a total of 19,652 participants. Analyses indicated: 1) minimization is common; 2) minimization functions as a continuous construct; and 3) high MD scores attenuate the ability of the CTQ to distinguish between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Overall, results suggest that a minimizing response bias-as detected by the MD subscale-has a small but significant moderating effect on the CTQ's discriminative validity. Results also may suggest that some prior analyses of maltreatment rates or the effects of early maltreatment that have used the CTQ may have underestimated its incidence and impact. We caution researchers and clinicians about the widespread practice of using the CTQ without the MD or collecting MD data but failing to assess and control for its effects on outcomes or dependent variables.

SUBMITTER: MacDonald K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4729672 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Minimization of Childhood Maltreatment Is Common and Consequential: Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

MacDonald Kai K Thomas Michael L ML Sciolla Andres F AF Schneider Beacher B Pappas Katherine K Bleijenberg Gijs G Bohus Martin M Bekh Bradley B Carpenter Linda L Carr Alan A Dannlowski Udo U Dorahy Martin M Fahlke Claudia C Finzi-Dottan Ricky R Karu Tobi T Gerdner Arne A Glaesmer Heide H Grabe Hans Jörgen HJ Heins Marianne M Kenny Dianna T DT Kim Daeho D Knoop Hans H Lobbestael Jill J Lochner Christine C Lauritzen Grethe G Ravndal Edle E Riggs Shelley S Sar Vedat V Schäfer Ingo I Schlosser Nicole N Schwandt Melanie L ML Stein Murray B MB Subic-Wrana Claudia C Vogel Mark M Wingenfeld Katja K

PloS one 20160127 1

Childhood maltreatment has diverse, lifelong impact on morbidity and mortality. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is one of the most commonly used scales to assess and quantify these experiences and their impact. Curiously, despite very widespread use of the CTQ, scores on its Minimization-Denial (MD) subscale-originally designed to assess a positive response bias-are rarely reported. Hence, little is known about this measure. If response biases are either common or consequential, current ...[more]

PMID: 26815788

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Project description:BackgroundExisting survey measures of childhood trauma history generally fail to take into account the relational-socioecological environment in which childhood maltreatment occurs. Variables such as the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, the emotional availability of caregivers, witnessing the abuse of others, and the respondent's own thoughts, feelings, and actions in response to maltreatment are rarely assessed by current measures.MethodsTo address these concerns, the current study further investigated the family dynamics of childhood maltreatment using the Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS) in 1,782 persons assessed online.ResultsPaired differences in means between item-rated descriptiveness of self, mothers, and fathers suggested that respondents' relationship with their biological fathers was less positive and secure than their relationship with their biological mothers, and that biological fathers were more often the perpetrator of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse than biological mothers. However, results further suggested that ratings between self, mothers, and fathers were positively correlated such that, for example, reports of a mother's or a respondent's own abusive behavior were more likely in the presence of reports of a father's abusive behavior. In addition, analyses evaluating witnessing violence demonstrated that fathers were rated as more often violent toward mothers than the reverse, although intimate partner violence was also frequently bidirectional. Analyses of sibling ratings further demonstrated that older brothers were either as or more frequently abusive when compared with parents. Finally, results suggested that childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse were much more often perpetrated by family members than extra-familial and non-family members.ConclusionsIn so far as these findings are consistent with the prior childhood trauma and attachment literature, the current study further supports the utility of the CARTS as a means of assessing the family dynamics of childhood attachment and maltreatment within a relational-socioecological framework.

Project description:Substance use disorders (SUDs) are among the most common sequelae of childhood maltreatment, yet the independent contributions of SUDs and childhood maltreatment to neurobiological changes and the effect of the latter on relapse risk (a critical variable in addiction treatment) are relatively unknown.To identify structural neural characteristics independently associated with childhood maltreatment (CM; a common type of childhood adversity), comparing a sample with SUD with a demographically comparable control sample, and to examine the relationship between CM-related structural brain changes and subsequent relapse.Structural magnetic resonance imaging study comparing 79 treatment-engaged participants with SUD in acute remission in inpatient treatment at a community mental health center vs 98 healthy control participants at an outpatient research center at an academic medical center. Both groups included individuals with a range of CM experiences. Participants with SUD were followed up prospectively for 90 days to assess relapse and relapse severity.Standard 12-step, recovery-based, inpatient addiction treatment for all participants with SUD.Gray matter volume (GMV), subsequent substance use relapse, days to relapse, and severity of relapse.Controlling for SUD and psychiatric comorbidity, CM (dichotomously classified) was uniquely associated with lower GMV across all participants in the left hippocampus (cornu ammonis 1-3, dentate gyrus), parahippocampus (presubiculum, parasubiculum, prosubiculum, subiculum, and entorhinal cortex), and anterior fusiform gyrus (corrected P?<?.05; uncorrected P?=?.001). Among the sample with SUD, CM prospectively predicted a shorter relapse to use of any drug (P?=?.048), while CM-related GMV reductions predicted severity of substance use relapse (P?=?.04).Findings indicate that CM was related to decreased GMV in limbic regions, which in turn predicted increased risk of relapse in SUD. These results suggest that CM may significantly affect the course of SUD treatment outcomes and that SUD treatment planning may benefit from identifying and addressing CM.

Dataset Information

Minimization of Childhood Maltreatment Is Common and Consequential: Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

Publications

Minimization of Childhood Maltreatment Is Common and Consequential: Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

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