title: Toward a unified theory of childhood trauma and psychosis: A comprehensive review of epidemiological, clinical, neuropsychological and biological findings.
abstract: There is a growing body of research focused on the relationship between childhood trauma and the risk of developing psychosis. Numerous studies, including many large-scale population-based studies, controlling for possible mediating variables, provide persuasive evidence of a dose-response association and are indicative of a causal relationship. Existing evidence supports the specificity model, showing differential associations between particular adversities and clinical symptoms, with cumulative adversity causing less favorable clinical and functional outcomes in psychotic patients. To date, several psychological and biological models have been proposed to search for underlying developmental trajectories leading to the onset of psychosis, influencing psychopathological manifestation and negative functional outcomes due to a history of childhood trauma. In this article, we provide a unified review on the relationship between childhood trauma and psychosis by integrating results of epidemiological, clinical, neuropsychological and biological studies. The question whether psychosis with a positive history of childhood trauma should be considered as a new psychotic phenotype, requiring specific therapeutic interventions, warrants further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, 1 Marcinkowski Street, 50-368 Wroclaw, Poland. Electronic address: mblazej@interia.eu.
authors.forename: Błażej
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Misiak
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, 10 Pasteur Street, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krefft
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, 10 Pasteur Street, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bielawski
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Marcs Institute of Brain and Behaviour, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Ahmed A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Moustafa
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, 1 Marcinkowski Street, 50-368 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Maria M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Sąsiadek
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, 10 Pasteur Street, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Dorota
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frydecka
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D006801:Humans; D011618:Psychotic Disorders; D012306:Risk; D000068099:Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders
keywords: Childhood trauma; Early-life stress; Psychosis; Schizophrenia