Childhood trauma and the risk of violence in adulthood in a population with a psychotic illness.
There are strong links between childhood trauma and the risk of violence (Ford et al., 2007). Despite evidence that people with psychotic disorders are at a higher risk of violence than the general population (Witt et al., 2013) there have been few studies that have examined the trauma-violence link in this population (Spidel et al., 2010). This study explored the association between a history of childhood trauma (abuse, neglect and conflict-related trauma) and the risk of violence in adults with psychotic disorders. The strongest associations with the risk of violence were found for sexual abuse (r = .32, p < .05) and the impact of community conflict (r = .32, p < .05). An accumulative effect of trauma was found using a hierarchical regression (adjusted R(2) = .14, F(2,37) = 4.23, p < .05). There are implications for applying models of violence to psychosis, risk assessment and treatment of people with psychotic disorders as well as informing trauma models and protective factors for children in conflict-affected regions.
School of Psychology, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK. Electronic address: tania.bosqui@gmail.com.
Tania Josiane
TJ
Bosqui
School of Psychology, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK.
Ciarán
C
Shannon
School of Psychology, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK.
Bridget
B
Tiernan
Shannon Clinic, Regional Forensic Unit, Knockbracken Health Care Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
Nicola
N
Beattie
Shannon Clinic, Regional Forensic Unit, Knockbracken Health Care Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
John
J
Ferguson
Whiteabbey Hospital, Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK.
Ciaran
C
Mulholland
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
Childhood trauma; Community conflict; Psychotic disorders; Violence