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Abstract
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We read the Article by Andreas Bauer and colleagues with great interest. In their study, the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA) interview was used to evaluate current psychiatric disorders among children in a prospective birth cohort in Brazil. The disorders were grouped into four categories. The mood disorders group included depression, bipolar disorder, and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD). The study explored the association between childhood trauma and the four categories of psychiatric disorders. No results were reported for the association between individual disorders and childhood trauma.
For mood disorders, many studies have explored the association between childhood trauma and bipolar disorder or depression, and the conclusions seemed to be definite. A meta-analysis demonstrated that children and adolescents with early life stress including eight specific forms (domestic violence, death of a family member, physical illness or injury, poverty, sexual abuse, physical abuse, natural disaster, and emotional abuse) were more likely to develop depression before the age of 18 years than were those without a history of early life stress. The relationship between childhood trauma and depression has also been verified in many studies from low-income and middle-income countries. Many studies have demonstrated greater rates of childhood maltreatment in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder. A recent study showed that childhood trauma was an important influencing factor in adolescents with bipolar disorder, and, in addition, emotional abuse was a risk factor for non-suicidal self-injury. Childhood trauma is prevalent in bipolar disorder, and is associated with poor bipolar disorder outcomes. Interventions targeting affective instability and emotional abuse directly might be effective for alleviating the effects of childhood trauma on children and adolescents with bipolar disorder. In conclusion, the link between childhood trauma and risk of depression and bipolar disorder has been well documented.
Language: en |