| Abstract [eng] |
A significant number of psychiatric patients report having experienced traumatic events in their lives, which is strongly linked to the development of mental disorders in adulthood. Childhood trauma is a major risk factor for complex post-traumatic stress disorder, which is highly associated with depressive symptoms and can severely disrupt a person's daily functioning. However, post-traumatic reactions are not yet widely recognised in the Lithuanian mental health system. This study aims to examine the connection between traumatic experiences, complex post-traumatic stress disorder, and depressive symptoms in a group of adults who are undergoing psychiatric hospitalisation. The study included 128 adults, with a mean age of 39.9, of which 76 were women. The researchers used the International Traumatic Experiences Questionnaire (ITEM), International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ), and International Depression Questionnaire (IDQ) to assess the participants. The results revealed that almost all subjects (93.8%) had experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. In the clinical sample, the prevalence of CPTSD (19.5%) was higher than that of PTSD (14.6%). There was a strong correlation between CPTSD and depressive symptoms, with the DSO symptom group showing the strongest correlation. The study also found that cumulative childhood trauma predicted the risk of PTSD but not CPTSD. Furthermore, experiences of physical abuse and emotional neglect in childhood predicted both PTSD and CPTSD risk, with emotional abuse being the strongest predictor of PTSD risk. These findings support the significant role of childhood trauma in the development of complex post-traumatic stress disorder and its comorbidity with depressive symptoms. Therefore, effective trauma-focused interventions should be developed that consider these implications. |
