title: Sex differences in the effect of childhood trauma on the clinical expression of early psychosis.
abstract: Childhood trauma, a risk factor of psychosis, is associated the clinical expression of the illness (greater severity of psychotic symptoms; poorer cognitive performance). We aimed to explore whether there are sex differences in this relationship. We studied 79 individuals with a psychotic disorder (PD) with <3years of illness and 59 healthy subjects (HS). All participants were administered the MATRICS Cognitive Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) to assess cognition. Depressive, positive and negative psychotic symptoms, and global functioning were also assessed. History of childhood trauma was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Patients reported a greater history of childhood trauma on all CTQ domains (emotional, physical and sexual abuse, and physical and emotional neglect). A poorer cognitive performance was also observed in PD when compared to HS. No sex differences were found in the CTQ scores. In the relationship between childhood trauma and psychopathological symptoms, significant correlations were found between CTQ scores and positive and negative psychotic symptoms, depressive symptoms and poorer functionality, but only in women. Childhood trauma was associated with poorer social cognition in both men and women. Of all CTQ dimensions, emotional neglect and physical neglect were more clearly associated with a more severe psychopathological and cognitive profile. Our results suggest that childhood trauma, particularly emotional and physical neglect, is associated with the clinical expression of psychosis and that there are sex differences in this relationship.
authors.affiliation: Early Intervention Service, Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí, I3PT, UAB, Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Itziar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Montalvo
authors.affiliation: Early Intervention Service, Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Creus
authors.affiliation: Early Intervention Service, Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Ángel
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Cabezas
authors.affiliation: Early Intervention Service, Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Montse
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Solé
authors.affiliation: Early Intervention Service, Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Algora
authors.affiliation: Early Intervention Service, Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: Early Intervention Service, Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Zotes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí, I3PT, UAB, Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: jlabad@tauli.cat.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Labad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult