Alcohol use and type of life events experienced during adolescence.

Measured the incidence of stressful life events among 119 adolescents who had an alcohol abusing parent, were in treatment for alcohol/drug abuse, or had no personal or family history of alcohol abuse. Group scores were compared for 7 types of life events based on the Life Event Checklist (LEC) of M. D. Newcomb et al (see record 1982-20103-001). Adolescents in treatment experienced more deviance and emotional distress events whereas adolescents with an alcoholic parent reported significantly more family-related problems. Results provide evidence for the usefulness of the LEC in clinical populations of adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring abuse stress and negative cognitive appraisals in child sexual abuse: validity data on two new scales

The validity of two measures assessing degree of stress associated with sexual abuse was examined in a sample of 48 girls who had been sexually abused. The Checklist of Sexual Abuse and Related Stressors (C-SARS) assessed negative life events that were part of or were related to the abuse, and the Negative Appraisals of Sexual Abuse Scale (NASAS) assessed negative cognitive appraisals of threat, harm, or loss associated with the abuse. Total scores for victim reports of both stressful events and negative appraisals were positively and significantly related to two other measures of abuse severity: therapist ratings of abuse stress and the number of types of sexual abuse reported. Stressful event scores were also related to aggressive behavior problems, sexual concerns, and total symptom scores on the Child Behavior Checklist. Negative cognitive appraisal scores were related to victims' self-reports of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, and to parents reports of child depression and total symptoms. Regression analyses indicated that there were significant effects of negative appraisals on internalizing symptoms when controlling for the level of stressful events experienced. The results suggest that negative life events and negative appraisals associated with sexual abuse are valid constructs that help account for variability in mental health outcomes among child victims. The implications of these results and future research directions in examining variable outcomes among sexual abuse victims are discussed.     

Traumas and other adverse life events in adolescents with alcohol abuse and dependence

OBJECTIVE: Clinical observation suggests that adolescents with alcohol use disorders often have complex histories that include childhood maltreatment and other traumas. The aim of this study was to determine the relationships among adolescent alcohol use disorders and a broad range of traumas and adverse life events. METHOD: The subjects were 132 adolescents with alcohol dependence, 51 adolescents with alcohol abuse, and 73 adolescents recruited from the community as a control group. Trauma history was assessed by a semistructured interview and other adverse life events by questionnaire. RESULTS: Traumatic events reflecting interpersonal violence had occurred in many of the adolescents with alcohol dependence and abuse and few of the control adolescents. Adolescents with alcohol abuse or dependence, compared with control subjects, were 6 to 12 times more likely to have a physical abuse history and 18 to 21 times more likely to have a sexual abuse history. Sexual abuse was more common in females, and victimization by other violent acts was more common in males. Many other adverse life events were also significantly more common in the alcohol use disorder groups than in the control group, including having a close friend die, arguments within the family, and legal difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that trauma and other adverse life events are strongly associated with alcohol use disorders in adolescents. Clinical screening of adolescents with alcohol use disorders for a range of traumatic events is recommended.     

Reports of stress: a comparison between eating disordered and non-eating disordered adolescents

This study utilizes a unique method to examine reports of stressful life events provided by eating disordered and non-eating disordered adolescents. Subjects (all females) participated in a standardized procedure to obtain reports of stressful life events. The Life Events and Coping Inventory (LECI) was used to categorize reported stressors. Eating disorder subjects discussed more stressors than non-eating disorder subjects only when eating disorder events were included. Furthermore, eating disorder subjects reported more events that could not be classified within the LECI and were rated as non-normative. The findings point to the importance of qualitative rather than purely quantitative approaches to stressful life events assessment with adolescents.     

Sex differences and adolescent depression.

This study investigates the role of certain psychosocial variables—sex, age, body image/self-esteem, self-consciousness, stressful life events, and the degree to which an individual identifies with the cultural stereotype of masculinity—as correlates and antecedents to depression in adolescents and explores possible intraindividual mediators of the stress–depression relationship in adolescents. A battery of self-report measures was administered to public high school students in Grades 9–12 in their classrooms at two different times 1 month apart. Female adolescents reported more depressive symptoms, self-consciousness, stressful recent events, feminine attributes, and negative body image and self-esteem; no age effects were obtained. Results suggest a model of adolescent depression in which body image/self-esteem and stressful recent events are significant contributors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stressful life events and adolescent substance use and depression: conditional and gender differentiated effects

Stressful life circumstances have myriad influences on human health and behavior. Early research focused on the variable distribution of stress and its effects by socioeconomic status, race, and gender. More recent research indicates that variation by age is also an important consideration. For example, adolescent reactions to stressful life events are often inconsistent with adult reactions to similar life situations and transitions. Moreover, since most studies assess only a single outcome--usually depression--they risk classification bias since analyses exclude other potential stress-related outcomes. This paper assesses the gender distinct effects of stressful life events on two outcomes among adolescents, substance use and depressive symptoms. The results of a second-order regression model indicate that life events affect female, but not male, depressive symptoms, especially when self-esteem is low or mastery is high. Furthermore, life events affect substance use when peer drug use is high, or when parental support is low, but this latter effect is limited to female adolescents.     

Emotional reactivity to daily events in major and minor depression.

Although emotional dysfunction is an important aspect of major depressive disorder (MDD), it has rarely been studied in daily life. Peeters, Nicolson, Berkhof, Delespaul, and deVries (2003) observed a surprising mood-brightening effect when individuals with MDD reported greater reactivity to positive events. To better understand this phenomenon, we conducted a multimethod assessment of emotional reactivity to daily life events, obtaining detailed reports of appraisals and event characteristics using the experience-sampling method and the Day Reconstruction Method (Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz, & Stone, 2004) in 35 individuals currently experiencing a major depressive episode, 26 in a minor depressive (mD) episode, and 38 never-depressed healthy controls. Relative to healthy controls, both mood-disordered groups reported greater daily negative affect and lower positive affect and reported events as less pleasant, more unpleasant, and more stressful. Importantly, MDD and mD individuals reported greater reductions in negative affect following positive events, an effect that converged across assessment methods and was not explained by differences in prevailing affect, event appraisals, or medications. Implications of this curious mood-brightening effect are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stressful life events, anxiety sensitivity, and internalizing symptoms in adolescents.

Anxiety sensitivity represents a robust risk factor for the development of anxiety symptoms among both adolescents and adults. However, the development of anxiety sensitivity among adolescents remains inadequately understood. In this study, the authors examined the role of stressful life events as a risk factor for the development of elevated anxiety sensitivity. Anxiety sensitivity was then examined in a longitudinal design as a mechanism linking stressful life events to changes in anxiety symptoms. Stressful life events, anxiety sensitivity, and internalizing symptoms were assessed in a diverse community sample of adolescents (N = 1,065) at 3 time points spanning 7 months. The results indicated that stressful life events were longitudinally associated with increases in anxiety sensitivity and that certain types of stressful life events, specifically events related to health and events related to family discord, were differentially predictive of increases in anxiety sensitivity. Moreover, anxiety sensitivity mediated the longitudinal relation between stressful life events and anxiety symptoms. Evidence was also found for the predictive specificity of anxiety sensitivity to symptoms of anxiety but not depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training and use of baccalaureate nurses

One thousand three hundred sixty-five soldiers from the U.S. Army completed a 30-item version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) together with four questions on sexual abuse developed for a national survey of U.S. adults. A four-factor solution to the CTQ produced four subscales that were similar to those found in the original study, namely (1) emotional neglect, (2) physical and emotional abuse, (3) sexual abuse, and (4) physical neglect. We found that half of female soldiers reported a childhood history of sexual abuse, compared with one-sixth of male soldiers. Half of both male and female soldiers reported a childhood history of physical abuse. Combined abuse histories were noted in 34% of female and 11% of male soldiers. Abused soldiers reported more psychological symptoms on the Brief Symptom Inventory than nonabused soldiers. The CTQ and screening questions are discussed as possible tools for eliciting histories of abuse from soldiers.     

Psychosocial factors and the development of breast cancer: A meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis examined the relationship between psychosocial factors and the development of breast cancer. Average effect sizes (Hedges's g) were calculated from 46 studies for 8 major construct categories: anxiety/depression, childhood family environment, conflict-avoidant personality, denial/repression coping, anger expression, extraversion-introversion, stressful life events, and separation/loss. Significant effect sizes were found for denial/repression coping (g?=?.38), separation/loss experiences (g?=?.29), and stressful life events (g?=?.25). Although conflict-avoidant personality style was also significant (g?=?.19), the effect size was less robust, and a moderate number of future studies with null results would reduce the significance. Results overall support only a modest association between specific psychosocial factors and breast cancer and are contrary to the conventional wisdom that personality and stress influence the development of breast cancer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood maltreatment, object relations, and suicidal behavior in women.

Findings from a study examining object relations (OR) as a mediator of the link between childhood maltreatment and suicidal behavior in a sample of predominantly low-income, African American women (suicide attempters: n?=?53; nonattempters: n?=?106) revealed that each OR dimension fully, yet differentially, mediated specific links between 5 types of childhood maltreatment (sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, and emotional and physical neglect) and suicide attempt status. The alienation subscale of 1 of the 2 OR measures used was the most robust mediator, fully mediating the links between all types of childhood maltreatment and suicide attempt status. For both childhood sexual abuse and physical neglect, the links with suicide attempt status were fully mediated by 5 of 6 OR dimensions measured, whereas the other childhood maltreatment types (physical abuse, emotional abuse, and emotional neglect) were fully mediated by just 1 or 2 OR dimensions. Research directions and clinical implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Several unusual cases of child abuse

All childhood deaths which occurred in New Mexico during 1974 and 1975 were reviewed. Nine fatal instances of abuse were identified representing the entire spectrum of physical abuse: neglect, abuse in a single episode of injury, repetitive abuse, or sexual abuse. Several cases are summarized. These are unusual either in the distribution of pathologic findings or in the problems encountered in court presentation.     

Stress and illness in adolescence: issues of race and gender

There is an abundance of information on the association between stressful life events and illness within the adult population. In contrast, research on this relationship among adolescents is limited. This study evaluated the role of individual differences (gender and race) on the stress-illness relationship within the adolescent population. Participants were 119 adolescents (54 females and 65 males), recruited from two public high schools located in the southeast, who were administered four questionnaires designed to measure levels of stress, anxiety, and illness. Overall, correlational analysis revealed that stress and anxiety were positively correlated with reported illness. However, racial and gender differences did emerge. Although no gender differences were found with regard to the experience of stress, African-American athletes reported a higher frequency of stressful life events than did their Euro-American counterparts. Further, African-American adolescents reported a lower frequency of illness than did the Euro-Americans. Females reported more illnesses than did males. Possible explanations for individual differences in reported stress and illness are discussed.     

Primate diversity, habitat preferences, and population density estimates in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that different types of gender-related personality attributes are associated with a past history of different types of childhood maltreatment. METHOD: A survey was administered to 1,060 male soldiers and 305 female soldiers in the U.S. Army. The survey instrument included the Extended Personal Attributes Questionnaire (EPAQ) which is a self-assessment instrument of personality characteristics associated with gender, and includes measures of positive masculinity (self-assertive/instrumental traits), positive femininity (expressive/interpersonal traits), negative masculinity (hyper masculine/macho traits), and negative femininity (subordination of self to others). The survey instrument also included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which contains scales measuring sexual abuse, physical-emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect, and four questions on childhood sexual abuse developed for a national survey of U.S. adults. RESULTS: Negative masculinity was predicted by male gender, younger age, and childhood physical-emotional abuse. Negative femininity was predicted by physical-emotional abuse and sexual abuse. The relationship to sexual abuse was mainly evident for males. Positive femininity was positively correlated with sexual abuse for females and negatively correlated with sexual abuse for males. Positive masculinity was negatively correlated with emotional neglect for males but not for females. Positive femininity was negatively correlated with emotional neglect for both genders. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood abuse was associated with the presence of negative gender-related attributes; childhood neglect was associated with absence of positive gender-related attributes. Childhood physical abuse was associated with negative masculine attributes in both genders. Childhood sexual abuse was associated with positive feminine attributes in females, and negative feminine attributes in males. The finding for females is counterintuitive, and is discussed in the light of the clinical literature on certain types of adaptation to incest.     

The relevance of family-of-origin and sexual assault experience to therapeutic outcomes with college students.

This study involving student clients from severely stressed childhood families investigated a desired treatment outcome--improvement in psychosocial functioning--in relation to 3 covariates relevant to therapeutic progress: clients' personal psychological and cognitive resources, their level of affective and interpersonal functioning, and the therapeutic alliance between client and therapist. The authors also determined whether the specific trauma of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) impacted improvement differently than other general, severely stressful childhood family experiences. Results indicated that improvement in psychosocial functioning was related to all 3 client covariates. Furthermore, although the level of stressful childhood family experiences did not directly affect improvement, it may have indirectly affected it through the client covariates. CSA status did not impact improvement during therapy, but the pattern of relationships between the client covariates and improvement distinguished it from more generalized stressful family experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial adjustment of adolescent children of a depressed, arthritic, or normal parent.

Examined the joint effects of having a parent with a psychological or physical disability and stressful life events on the mental health of 3 groups of adolescents: 16 adolescent children of a depressed parent, 16 adolescent children of a parent with rheumatoid arthritis, and 16 adolescent children of parents free from psychological or physical disability. Ss were asked to complete a battery of assessments, including the SCL-90, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Family Environment Scale, and scales assessing life events and satisfaction with school. It was found that, in contrast to the normal group, Ss with arthritic parents reported lower self-esteem, whereas Ss with depressed parents reported lower self-esteem and more symptomatology. However, the 2 risk groups did not differ in terms of mental health or family and school adjustment. Both negative and positive life events were strongly related to poorer adjustment, but only for Ss with depressed and arthritic parents. There was a significant interaction effect of parental disability (depressed vs normal) and negative life events on symptomatology, with the Ss with depressed parents who experienced few negative life events reporting symptom levels equivalent to that of the normal group. Within-group analyses revealed that a positive familial social climate was related to better adjustment among all 3 groups: satisfactory school involvements were related to better adjustment among the depressed-parent and normal groups. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internal and external mediators of women's sexual abuse in childhood.

A community sample of 111 women's retrospective reports of childhood sexual abuse was examined in an effort to understand the circumstances and coping strategies that mediated the immediate and lasting effects of those stressful experiences. Aspects of single or multiple abuse incidents were captured in 11 variables, each reflecting 1 of 3 domains: circumstances of abuse, mediators, and outcomes (the negative effects of abuse). Observed variable simultaneous path analysis models revealed several direct and mediated influences on the outcomes. Long-term negative outcomes of abuse were directly affected by a close relationship to the perpetrator and severity of abuse from the circumstances of abuse domain, and immediate negative responses, self-blame, and nondisclosure regarding the incident from the mediational domain. The importance of examining factors that mediate the negative effects of child sexual abuse is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding adverse experiences in the psychiatric institution: The importance of child abuse histories in iatrogenic trauma.

Psychiatric institutions are intended to be places of treatment and sanctuary. However, iatrogenic events in the hospital may interfere with treatment delivery and adherence (Shaw, McFarlane, & Bookless, 1997); additionally, a history of childhood abuse may increase vulnerability to negative emotional reactions to later adverse or threatening events (Chisholm, Freeman, & Cooke, 2006). The present study extends previous research on the frequency and impact of negative hospital events using the Psychiatric Experiences Questionnaire (Cusack et al., 2003), specifically considering the rate of negative events and consumers' perceptions of their treatment experiences. Questionnaires were administered to 43 participants with a history of at least one inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. Results indicated that 98% of participants had experienced at least one negative event in the psychiatric hospital. Child abuse history was significantly related to number of reported negative hospital events, so that those with a history of child abuse reported experiencing a greater number of negative hospital events and a higher level of subjective distress. Implications for research, clinical practice, and policy to improve trauma-sensitive assessments and treatments are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selection bias in occupational sperm studies

OBJECTIVE: This study examined well-being and satisfaction with community services in adult survivors of childhood abuse. METHOD: A community sample of 109 individuals, 34 reporting childhood abuse (sexual, physical and/or emotional), completed a questionnaire package as part of a study of community well-being. The package included measures of demographic variables, satisfaction with community services, physical well-being, consumption of drugs (including nicotine & alcohol), loneliness, depression, and life stress. RESULTS: Less than half of those reporting abuse had confided in someone about their experience and only 14.3% had discussed it with a counsellor. The abuse versus no abuse groups did not differ in terms of general living circumstances (e.g., income, marital status, employment status, quality of housing). Despite this, the abuse group reported poorer well-being on several measures. CONCLUSIONS: There are clear limitations to the present data. Nonetheless, the results suggest that those reporting childhood abuse tend to experience poorer well-being than those who do not report abuse, even when the "objective" aspects of their circumstances are similar.     

Personality, stressful life events, and treatment response in major depression.

The current study examined whether the personality traits of self-criticism or dependency moderated the effect of stressful life events on treatment response. Depressed outpatients (N = 113) were randomized to 16 weeks of cognitive–behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, or antidepressant medication (ADM). Stressful life events were assessed with the Bedford College Life Events and Difficulties Schedule. Severe events reported during or immediately prior to treatment predicted poor response in the ADM condition but not in the psychotherapy conditions. In contrast, nonsevere life events experienced prior to onset predicted superior response to treatment. Further, self-criticism moderated the relation of severe life events to outcome across conditions, such that in the presence of severe stress those high in self-criticism were less likely to respond to treatment than were those low in self-criticism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)