Well-being : the foundations of hedonic psychology

Measures of emotional health and styles of responding to negative moods were obtained for 137 students 14 days before the Loma Prieta earthquake. A follow-up was done 10 days again 7 weeks after the earthquake to test predictions about which of the students would show the most enduring symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress. Regression analysis showed that students who, before the earthquake, already had elevated levels of depression and stress symptoms and a ruminative style of responding to their symptoms had more depression and stress symptoms for both follow-ups. Students who were exposed to more dangerous or difficult circumstances because of the earthquake also had elevated symptom levels 10 days after the earthquake. Similarly, students who, during the 10 days after the earthquake, had more ruminations about the earthquake were still more likely to have high levels of depressive and stress symptoms 7 weeks after the earthquake.

A prospective study of depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms after a natural disaster: the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.

Three potential sources of error in retrospective reports of childhood experiences are documented: low reliability and validity of autobiographical memory in general, the presence of general memory impairment associated with psychopathology, and the presence of specific mood-congruent memory biases associated with psychopathology. The evidence reviewed suggests that claims concerning the general unreliability of retrospective reports are exaggerated and that there is little reason to link psychiatric status with less reliable or less valid recall of early experiences. Nevertheless, it is clear that steps must be taken to overcome the limitations of retrospective reports and enhance their reliability.

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/bul/113/1/82.pdf

Psychopathology and early experience: a reappraisal of retrospective reports.

Background Women who report childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are at increased risk for developing psychiatric disorders in adulthood. What is the diagnostic specificity and cause of this association? Methods In a population-based sample of 1411 female adult twins, 3 levels of CSA were assessed by self-report and cotwin report: nongenital, genital, and intercourse. Interviews with twins and parents assessed family background and diagnoses of psychiatric and substance dependence disorders. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated by logistic regression. Results By self-report, 30.4% reported any CSA and 8.4% reported intercourse. Self-reported CSA was positively associated with all disorders, the highest ORs being seen with bulimia and alcohol and other drug dependence. The ORs were modest and often nonsignificant with nongenital CSA and increased with genital CSA and especially intercourse, where most ORs exceeded 3.0. A similar pattern of findings was seen with CSA as reported by the cotwin, although many ORs were smaller. Controlling for family background factors and parental psychopathology produced a small to modest reduction in ORs. In twin pairs discordant for CSA, the exposed twin was at consistently higher risk of illness. Conclusions Women with CSA have a substantially increased risk for developing a wide range of psychopathology. Most of this association is due to more severe forms of CSA and cannot be explained by background familial factors. Although other biases cannot be ruled out, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that CSA is causally related to an increased risk for psychiatric and substance abuse disorders.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/articlepdf/481660/yoa9487.pdf

Childhood sexual abuse and adult psychiatric and substance use disorders in women: an epidemiological and cotwin control analysis

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between child sexual abuse (CSA) and subsequent onset of psychiatric disorders, accounting for other childhood adversities, CSA type, and chronicity of the abuse. METHODS: Retrospective reports of CSA, other adversities, and psychiatric disorders were obtained by the National Comorbidity Survey, a nationally representative survey of the United States (n = 5877). Reports were analyzed by multivariate methods. RESULTS: CSA was reported by 13.5% of women and 2.5% of men. When other childhood adversities were controlled for, significant associations were found between CSA and subsequent onset of 14 mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders among women and 5 among men. In a subsample of respondents reporting no other adversities, odds of depression and substance problems associated with CSA were higher. Among women, rape (vs molestation), knowing the perpetrator (vs strangers), and chronicity of CSA (vs isolated incidents) were associated with higher odds of some disorders. CONCLUSIONS: CSA usually occurs as part of a larger syndrome of childhood adversities. Nonetheless, CSA, whether alone or in a larger adversity cluster, is associated with substantial increased risk of subsequent psychopathology.

Child sexual abuse and subsequent psychopathology: results from the National Comorbidity Survey.

A cross-sectional probability survey of 3132 household adults was conducted in two Los Angeles communities in order to examine the relationship between sexual assault and prevalence of 9 major mental disorders. Diagnoses of mental disorders were compared between those subjects who reported that they have experienced sexual abuse at some time in their lives and those who were not exposed to sexual assault. Disorders assessed include major depression mania schizophrenia alcohol abuse or dependence antisocial personality phobia panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Findings revealed that 13.2% of the studied population have been experiencing lifetime sexual assault. Those who were exposed to childhood sexual abuse were more likely than those assaulted in adulthood to report the development of a mental disorder. Lifetime prevalences of affective disorder including major depressive and manic disorders and drug abuse or dependence as well as three anxiety disorders including phobia mania and obsessive-compulsive disorder were significantly higher among assaulted individuals. The risk ratios indicate that the onset of associated disorder after assault was 2.3-4.0 times greater among the assaulted group relative to the nonassaulted ones. However Hispanic ethnic background and education were unrelated to the occurrence of mental disorders following sexual assault.

A. B. Forsythe

Papers

Sexual assault and mental disorders in a community population.