title: Childhood adversities and adult psychiatric disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication II: associations with persistence of DSM-IV disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although significant associations of childhood adversities (CAs) with adult mental disorders have been widely documented, associations of CAs with onset and persistence of disorders have not been distinguished. This distinction is important for conceptual and practical purposes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the multivariate associations of 12 retrospectively reported CAs with persistence of adult DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional community survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Household population in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nationally representative sample of 5692 adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Recency of episodes was assessed separately for each of 20 lifetime DSM-IV mood, anxiety, disruptive behavior, and substance use disorders in respondents with a lifetime history of these disorders using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Predictors of persistence were examined using backward recurrence survival models to predict time since most recent episode controlling for age at onset and time since onset.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CAs involving maladaptive family functioning (parental mental illness, substance use disorder, criminality, family violence, physical and sexual abuse, and neglect) but not other CAs were significantly but modestly related to persistence of mood, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders. Number of maladaptive family functioning CAs had statistically significant, but again substantively modest, subadditive associations with the same outcomes. Exposure to multiple other CAs was significantly associated with persistence of mood and anxiety disorders. Associations remained statistically significant throughout the life course, although the substantive size of associations indicated by simulations showing time to most recent episode would increase by only 1.6% (from a mean of 8.3 years to a mean of 8.4 years) in the absence of CAs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overall statistically significant associations of CAs with adult DSM-IV/Composite International Diagnostic Interview disorders are due largely to component associations with onsets rather than with persistence, indirectly suggesting that the greatest focus of public health attention on CAs should be aimed at primary rather than secondary prevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, 180 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Katie A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: Jennifer Greif
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gruber
authors.forename: Nancy A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Sampson
authors.forename: Alan M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zaslavsky
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kessler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult