Citation

Danese A, Baldwin JR. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2016; 68: 517-544.

Affiliation

MRC Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Annual Reviews)

DOI

10.1146/annurev-psych-010416-044208

PMID

27575032

Abstract

Childhood trauma is a key risk factor for psychopathology. However, little is known about how childhood exposure to traumatic stress is translated into biological risk for psychopathology. Observational human studies and experimental animal models suggest that childhood exposure to traumatic stress can trigger an enduring systemic inflammatory response not unlike the bodily response to physical injury. In turn, these hidden wounds of childhood trauma can affect brain development, key behavioral domains (e.g., cognition, positive valence systems, negative valence systems), reactivity to subsequent stressors, and, ultimately, risk for psychopathology. Further research is needed to better characterize the inflammatory links between childhood trauma and psychopathology. Detecting and healing these hidden wounds may help prevent and treat psychopathology emerging after childhood trauma. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology Volume 68 is January 03, 2017. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/catalog/pubdates.aspx for revised estimates.

Language: en