Triangulating evidence on the role of perceived versus objective experiences of childhood adversity in psychopathology
Open accessAbstract
Childhood adversities, such as maltreatment, bullying, and socioeconomic deprivation, are well-established risk factors for psychopathology. Recent evidence suggests that it is the perceived, rather than objective (i.e., actual) experience of childhood adversity which is associated with psychopathology (Danese & Widom, 2020). However, it is unclear whether perceptions of childhood adversity cause psychopathology, as this cannot be tested ethically or feasibly with randomised controlled trials. Triangulation can instead be used to improve causal inference in observational research, by integrating evidence across multiple approaches with different sources of bias.
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Mental health problems predict poor outcomes in major life domains, such as occupational attainment, physical health, and mortality.
“given that mental health problems predict poor outcomes in major life domains, such as occupational attainment (59), physical health (60), and mortality (61).”
From Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Quasi-Experimental Studies (2023) · cites this paper as [59]
Citation (59) is attached to occupational attainment. The Measurement Comparisons section discusses childhood adversity as a predictor of psychopathology, not whether mental health problems predict occupational attainment. Searches for “occupational attainment” and related work outcomes found no passage addressing that relationship; the copy provides no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.72)
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- Authors
- Baldwin, J. R., & Degli Esposti, M.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Department of Social Policy and Intervention University of Oxford Oxford UK
- Corresponding author
- Baldwin, Jessie R.
- Venue
- JCPP Advances
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-04
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e12010-e12010
- ISSN
- 2692-9384 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10242924
- OpenAlex
- W3158787889
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 4.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- JCPP Advances (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome (215917/Z/19/Z)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Child Welfare and Adoption
- Keywords
- childhood adversity, psychopathology, maltreatment, bullying, socioeconomic deprivation, causal inference, triangulation, risk factors
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