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Cited by 48Child Abuse and TraumaPosttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

The impact of childhood maltreatment on the severity of childhood-related posttraumatic stress disorder in adults

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Rameckers, Sophie A., van Emmerik, Arnold A.P., Bachrach, Nathan, Lee, Christopher W., Morina, Nexhmedin, Arntz, Arnoud·2021·Child Abuse & Neglect
DOI 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105208
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment is relatively common and is related to a range of negative consequences, such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). There are indications that various maltreatment types are related to PTSD severity, although not all types, such as emotional abuse, meet the PTSD Criterion-A. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between 5 types of childhood maltreatment (i.e., sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, and physical and emotional neglect) and the severity of adult PTSD and PTSD symptoms. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Adult participants (N = 147) with Childhood-related PTSD (Ch-PTSD) recruited from clinical sites completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-short form (CTQ-sf) and 2 PTSD measures: The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) and the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). METHODS: Childhood maltreatment predictors and 2 covariates, age and gender, were analysed in multivariate multilevel models as participants were nested within sites. A model selection procedure, in which all combinations of predictors were examined, was used to select a final set of predictors. RESULTS: The results indicated that emotional abuse was the only trauma type that was significantly related to severity of PTSD and to the severity of specific PTSD symptom clusters (r between 0.130 and 0.338). The final models explained between 6.5% and 16.7% of the variance in PTSD severity. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that emotional abuse plays a more important role in Ch-PTSD than hitherto assumed, and that treatment should not neglect processing of childhood emotional abuse.

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  • Many adverse childhood experiences are often neglected even when there is a diagnosis of PTSD.

    “This is important because sadly, many adverse childhood experiences are often neglected even when there is a diagnosis of PTSD (69).”

    From Timing of imagery rescripting during schema therapy for borderline personality disorder: the LUCY trial (2023) · cites this paper as [69]

    The Discussion says childhood emotional abuse often goes unnoticed and recommends giving memories of it more attention during PTSD screening, assessment, and treatment. That supports the concern for emotional abuse, but the paper does not say that many kinds of adverse childhood experience are often neglected even after a PTSD diagnosis. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Authors
Rameckers, S. A., van Emmerik, A. A. P., Bachrach, N., Lee, C. W., Morina, N., & Arntz, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Amsterdam (NL)
  • Tilburg University (NL)
  • The University of Western Australia (AU)
Corresponding author
Rameckers, Sophie A.
ORCID
Venue
Child Abuse & Neglect
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-10
Volume
120
Pages
105208
ISSN
0145-2134 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105208
OpenAlex
W3183393392
Cited by
48
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 5
FWCI
3.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Child Abuse & Neglect (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Research portal (Tilburg University) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
child abuse, PTSD symptom severity, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, PTSD symptom clusters, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, CAPS-5, PCL-5
MeSH terms
Adult, Child, Child Abuse, Humans, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

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