Affective and cognitive theory of mind in posttraumatic stress, major depressive, and somatic symptom disorders: Association with childhood trauma.
Objectives: Childhood trauma constitutes a major risk factor for adult psychopathology, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and somatic symptom disorder (SSD). One potential mechanism linking childhood trauma to adult psychopathology may be alterations in...
| Published in: | British Journal of Clinical Psychology Vol. 61; no. 3; pp. 680 - 701 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Sep2022
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=158341484&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 158341484 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 01446657 99B jtl: British Journal of Clinical Psychology issn: 01446657 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Sep2022 vid: 61 iid: 3 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell place: Malden, Massachusetts artinfo: ui: 158341484 154967133 158341484 158341484 10.1111/bjc.12357 158341484 ppf: 680 ppct: 21 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: C – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Affective and cognitive theory of mind in posttraumatic stress, major depressive, and somatic symptom disorders: Association with childhood trauma. aug: au: Seitz, Katja I. Ehler, Nicola Schmitz, Marius Schmitz, Sara E. Dziobek, Isabel Herpertz, Sabine C. Bertsch, Katja affil: Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University,, Germany sug: subj: Theory of Mind Evaluation Cognition Affect Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Risk Factors Depression Risk Factors Somatoform Disorders Risk Factors Trauma Complications Psychopathology In Adulthood Risk Assessment Human Child Adult Cross Sectional Studies Descriptive Statistics Clinical Assessment Tools Questionnaires Exploratory Research Exposure to Violence Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Psychosocial Factors Somatoform Disorders Psychosocial Factors Depression Psychosocial Factors Child: 6-12 years Adult: 19-44 years ab: Objectives: Childhood trauma constitutes a major risk factor for adult psychopathology, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and somatic symptom disorder (SSD). One potential mechanism linking childhood trauma to adult psychopathology may be alterations in theory of mind (ToM). Given the lack of transdiagnostic studies on the association between childhood trauma and ToM, further research is needed to elucidate whether and how childhood trauma relates to ToM impairments across and within diagnostic boundaries. Design: A cross‐sectional study design was applied. Methods: A total of 137 individuals with varying levels of childhood trauma took part in this study, encompassing individuals with PTSD (n = 33), MDD (n = 33), SSD (n = 36), and healthy volunteers (HVs; n = 35). To assess ToM performance and childhood trauma, the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition was administered along with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Results: Only individuals with PTSD, but not individuals with MDD or SSD, showed a worse ToM performance compared to HVs. In the whole sample, childhood trauma correlated negatively with ToM performance. Exploratory group‐specific analyses revealed higher levels of childhood trauma to be associated with more excessive ToM errors in individuals with SSD, and notably with an enhanced ToM performance in individuals with MDD. Conclusions: Our results indicate associations between childhood trauma and ToM impairments in a large, transdiagnostic sample. Provided replication in future studies, our findings suggest ToM capacities as a promising treatment target for individuals exposed to severe childhood trauma, at least or particularly with a diagnosis of PTSD. Practitioner points: Our results suggest that individuals with a history of severe childhood trauma, at least or particularly with a clinical diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder, may benefit from therapeutic approaches targeting theory of mind capacities.Our findings indicate that higher levels of childhood trauma may be linked to a specific 'hypermentalizing' bias in somatic symptom disorder.Our findings further point towards an association between higher levels of childhood trauma and a heightened – rather than a diminished – sensitivity towards interpersonal cues in major depressive disorder.Provided further confirmatory evidence, our findings may support diagnosis‐specific approaches in ameliorating theory of mind abilities in individuals with different mental disorders and a history of severe childhood trauma. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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