Psychological processes underlying the association between childhood trauma and psychosis in daily life: an experience sampling study

• Published in: Psychological medicine Vol. 46; no. 13; pp. 2799 - 2813
• Main Authors: Reininghaus, U., Gayer-Anderson, C., Valmaggia, L., Kempton, M. J., Calem, M., Onyejiaka, A., Hubbard, K., Dazzan, P., Beards, S., Fisher, H. L., Mills, J. G., McGuire, P., Craig, T. K. J., Garety, P., van Os, J., Murray, R. M., Wykes, T., Myin-Germeys, I., Morgan, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.10.2016
• Subjects: Abuse; Activities of daily living; Adolescent; Adult; Adult Survivors of Child Abuse - psychology; Associations; At risk; Child abuse & neglect; Child Abuse, Sexual - psychology; Child sexual abuse; Children; Ecological Momentary Assessment; Emotional abuse; Emotional responses; Emotions; Environmental stress; Etiology; Expectations; Female; First time; Humans; Life stress; Male; Middle Aged; Negative emotions; Original; Original Articles; Psychological processes; Psychological trauma; Psychosis; Psychotic Disorders - psychology; Questionnaires; Resilience; Resilience, Psychological; Sampling; Sensitivity; Sexual abuse; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Studies; Trauma; Young Adult; United Kingdom > UK; Childhood abuse; prodrome; first-episode psychosis; threat anticipation; mechanism; resilience; ecological momentary assessment; stress sensitivity
• ISSN: 0033-2917; 1469-8978
• DOI: 10.1017/S003329171600146X

Evidence has accumulated that implicates childhood trauma in the aetiology of psychosis, but our understanding of the putative psychological processes and mechanisms through which childhood trauma impacts on individuals and contributes to the development of psychosis remains limited. We aimed to investigate whether stress sensitivity and threat anticipation underlie the association between childhood abuse and psychosis. We used the Experience Sampling Method to measure stress, threat anticipation, negative affect, and psychotic experiences in 50 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, 44 At-Risk Mental State (ARMS) participants, and 52 controls. Childhood abuse was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Associations of minor socio-environmental stress in daily life with negative affect and psychotic experiences were modified by sexual abuse and group (all p FWE < 0.05). While there was strong evidence that these associations were greater in FEP exposed to high levels of sexual abuse, and some evidence of greater associations in ARMS exposed to high levels of sexual abuse, controls exposed to high levels of sexual abuse were more resilient and reported less intense negative emotional reactions to socio-environmental stress. A similar pattern was evident for threat anticipation. Elevated sensitivity and lack of resilience to socio-environmental stress and enhanced threat anticipation in daily life may be important psychological processes underlying the association between childhood sexual abuse and psychosis.