ArticleThe British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science2021
Unravelling the contribution of complex trauma to psychopathology and cognitive deficits: a cohort study.
Article in The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Partner Effects of Childhood Maltreatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2024Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis: do best-evidenced trauma-focused interventions for children and young people with PTSD lead to changes in social and interpersonal domains?European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Pooled it
- Growing Up with Parental Mental Illness and Post-Traumatic Growth.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2026Article
- Associations Between Distinct Trauma Classes and Mental Health Care Utilization in Norwegian Adolescents: A National Registry Study.Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- Trauma exposure as a predictor of general health outcomes and trauma-related beliefs among older adults living in an adverse environment.Aging & mental health · 2025Article
- Physical Activity Is Positively Associated with Model-Based Decision-Making in Pursuit of Reward in Trauma-Exposed Adults.Medicine and science in sports and exercise · 2025Article
- Autistic traits in childhood and post-traumatic stress disorder as young adults: a cohort study.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Article
- Childhood trauma: the elephant in the room in child and adolescent psychiatry.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Article
- Childhood Victimizing ACEs, Peer Victimization, Cyber Victimization: Gender Differences and Associations with Young Adult Psychological Distress.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2025Article
- Psychopathological symptoms in school-aged children after a traumatic event.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025Article
- Tentative Causes of Brain and Neuropsychological Alterations in Women Victims of Intimate Partner Violence.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- Temporal-Posterior Alpha Power in Resting-State Electroencephalography as a Potential Marker of Complex Childhood Trauma in Institutionalized Adolescents.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Modifiable factors associated with cognitive performance in Chinese adolescents: a national environment-wide association study.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- Prevalence and correlates of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression among welfare- and justice-involved adolescents in Nigeria.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Article
- Characterization of cognitive functioning in complex PTSD compared to non-complex PTSD.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Complex Racial Trauma: Evidence, Theory, Assessment, and Treatment.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2023Article
- A Longitudinal Investigation of the Relationship Between Trauma-Related Cognitive Processes and Internalising and Externalising Psychopathology in Young People in Out-of-Home Care.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2023Article
- Association of childhood trauma with cognitive domains in adult patients with mental disorders and in non-clinical populations: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Review
- Associations Between Complex Trauma Exposure in Childhood/Adolescence and Psychopathology in Older Age: The Role of Stress Coping and Coping Self-Perception.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2022Article
- Local understandings of PTSD and complex PTSD among health professionals working with adolescents in violent neighbourhoods of São Paulo city, Brazil.BMC psychiatry · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Complex traumas are traumatic experiences that involve multiple interpersonal threats during childhood or adolescence, such as repeated abuse. Complex traumas are hypothesized to lead to more severe psychopathology and poorer cognitive function than other non-complex traumas. However, empirical testing of this hypothesis has been limited to clinical/convenience samples and cross-sectional designs. Aims: To investigate psychopathology and cognitive function in young people exposed to complex, non-complex, or no trauma from a population-representative longitudinal cohort, and to consider the role of pre-existing vulnerabilities. Method: Participants were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a population-representative birth-cohort of 2,232 British children. At age 18 years (93% participation), we assessed lifetime exposure to complex and non-complex trauma, past-year psychopathology, and current cognitive function. We also prospectively assessed early childhood vulnerabilities: internalizing and externalizing symptoms at age 5, IQ at age 5, family history of mental illness, family socioeconomic status, and sex. Results: Participants exposed to complex trauma had more severe psychopathology and poorer cognitive function at age 18 compared to both trauma-unexposed participants and those exposed to non-complex trauma. Early childhood vulnerabilities predicted risk of later complex trauma exposure, and largely explained associations of complex trauma with cognitive deficits, but not with psychopathology. Conclusions: By conflating complex and non-complex traumas, current research and clinical practice under-estimate the severity of psychopathology, cognitive deficits, and pre-existing vulnerabilities linked with complex trauma. A better understanding of the mental health needs of people exposed to complex trauma could inform the development of new effective interventions.
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