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Cited by 47Child Abuse and TraumaChild Welfare and AdoptionMental Health Research Topics

Caught in a web of trauma: Network analysis of childhood adversity and adult mental ill-health

Breuer, Fabian, Greggersen, Wiebke, Kahl, Kai G., Schweiger, Ulrich, Westermair, Anna Lisa·2020·Child Abuse & Neglect
DOI 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104534
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Abstract

Background Current interventions for adverse childhood experiences have only limited effectiveness.Objective We sought to identify optimal targets for the development of new interventions against adverse childhood experiences (ACE), that is, ACEs that a) are so central in the network of childhood adversity that curbing them is likely to impact other types of adversity, too, and b) are so central to the link of childhood adversity and adult mental ill-health that curbing them is likely to prevent this negative long-term effect from developing.Participants and setting 384 adult psychiatric inpatients.Methods Using the R packages qgraph and IsingFit, we analyzed the ACE network and the common network of ACEs and adult mental disorders.Results We found two clusters of ACEs: direct interactions with the child and indirect traumatization via adverse circumstances. When controlling for interrelatedness, the associations of sexual abuse with posttraumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder were the only direct links between ACEs and adult mental disorders.Conclusions As neglect and violence against the mother were the most influential ACEs, curbing them is likely to destabilize the whole network of adversity. Thus, neglect and violence against the mother lend themselves as candidate targets for the development of new interventions. As sexual abuse was the only link between childhood adversity and adult mental ill-health, interventions against it seem most likely to keep this negative long-term effect from developing. Further, ideally prospective, research is needed to corroborate these findings.

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  • Childhood sexual abuse was shown to be the one type of adverse childhood experience that was strongly directly associated with both BPD and PTSD among adults in inpatient psychiatric treatment.

    “Consistent with that finding, childhood sexual abuse was shown to be the one type of adverse childhood experience that was strongly directly associated with both BPD and PTSD among adults in inpatient psychiatric treatment —[11].”

    From Complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder (2021) · cites this paper as [11]

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Authors
Breuer, F., Greggersen, W., Kahl, K. G., Schweiger, U., & Westermair, A. L.
Affiliations
  • University of Lübeck (DE)
  • Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (DE)
Corresponding author
Westermair, Anna Lisa
ORCID
Venue
Child Abuse & Neglect
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-09
Volume
107
Pages
104534
ISSN
0145-2134 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104534
OpenAlex
W3036873743
Cited by
47
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1
FWCI
2.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Child Abuse & Neglect (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Child Welfare and Adoption
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
Keywords
adverse childhood experiences, childhood adversity, mental illness, sexual abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, child neglect, violence against mothers, intervention targets, network analysis, psychiatric inpatients
MeSH terms
Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Adult, Mental Disorders, Child, Humans, Male, Prospective Studies, Surveys and Questionnaires, Adult Survivors of Child Abuse

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