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Trauma Raises Odds of Psychiatric Disorders in Children as Young as 6 Years
Associations between trauma and childhood psychiatric disorders are already present by age 6 and hold across a range of diagnostic groupings at age 11, according to results from a Brazilian birth cohort study published in Lancet Psychiatry.
“Clinicians, particularly from low-income and middle-income countries, should be aware that trauma exposure is already common in middle childhood, and that children exposed to trauma might present diverse diagnostic profiles, including internalizing and externalizing disorders,” wrote corresponding author Andreas Bauer, PhD, of the Human Development and Violence Research Center at the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil, and coauthors.
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The study included 4231 children born in the city of Pelotas in 2004. Psychologists administered the Development and Well-Being Assessment clinical interview to caregivers to assess child psychiatric disorders and lifetime trauma exposure when the children were ages 6 and 11.
Trauma exposure was relatively common, according to the study, with more than 1 in 3 children exposed by age 11. In comparison, the rate of trauma exposure by age 10 in a UK birth cohort was 15.9%, researchers pointed out.
“It is possible that childhood trauma is more prevalent in Brazil due to relatively low levels of socioeconomic prosperity and one of the highest levels of income inequality globally, both of which are associated with major risk factors for trauma (eg, violent crime),” researchers wrote.
At 6 years of age, adjusted odds ratios were 1.59 for any psychiatric disorder and 1.79 for an anxiety disorder in children exposed to trauma. At 11 years of age, adjusted odds ratios in children exposed to trauma were 1.45 for any psychiatric disorder, 1.47 for an anxiety disorder, 1.66 for a mood disorder, 1.47 for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 1.76 for a conduct and oppositional disorder.
Interpersonal trauma and noninterpersonal trauma were each independently linked with heightened odds of multiple psychiatric disorders, researchers reported.
“There is an urgent need to understand the underpinnings of the associations between trauma and negative mental health outcomes and to identify mechanisms that could be harnessed to protect against the harmful effects of childhood trauma exposure,” researchers advised.
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