Citation

Miller ML, Brock RL. J. Anxiety Disord. 2017; 47: 29-44.

Affiliation

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.02.005

PMID

28242410

Abstract

It is important to consider trauma-related sequelae in the etiology and maintenance of psychopathology, namely understudied disorders such as those belonging to the Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum (OCS). This meta-analysis examined the association between past trauma exposure and current severity of OCS disorder symptoms. A systematic literature search was conducted with 24 (N=4557) articles meeting inclusion criteria. A significant overall effect size was obtained (r=0.20), indicating that exposure to past trauma is associated with a higher severity of OCS symptoms, with a stronger association for females (β=0.01, p<.001) but not varying as a function of relationship status. Four types of interpersonal trauma (violence, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) were associated with OCS symptom severity (r=0.19 -0.24) and past trauma was significantly associated with more severe compulsions (r=0.17), but not obsessions.

RESULTS suggest an important link between multiple types of past trauma exposure and OCS symptoms.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Anxiety disorders; Meta-analysis; Obsessive-compulsive spectrum; Trauma