| Abstract [eng] |
People often experience events that not only evoke negative emotions but can also have detrimental effects on their psychological health and long-term negative impacts on individuals' well-being. Although traumatic experiences can be significant factors in anxiety disorders, there is a lack of research examining their correlations. This study in Lithuania aims to fill this gap and help better understand the impact of these experiences on anxiety disorders. In this work, data from 103 study participants (46 men and 57 women) who were treated at one of the psychiatric hospitals in Lithuania and, based on staff recommendation, were able to give informed consent and complete the provided questionnaires based on their mental health condition were analyzed. To identify traumatic experiences, the International Trauma Exposure Measure (ITEM) (Hyland et al., 2021), translated into Lithuanian by Geležėlytė and Kazlauskas (2022), was used. The level of experienced anxiety was assessed using the Lithuanian version of the International Anxiety Questionnaire (IAQ) (Shevlin et al., 2023, Geležėlytė and Kazlauskas, 2022). Data analysis showed that study participants experienced an average of 7-8 traumatic experiences throughout their lives, with the most commonly recurring ones being related to feelings of humiliation, devaluation, feeling unloved or unwanted, and experiences of violence. 59.2% of study participants reported feeling nervous or anxious at least half of all days or more, while 37.9% of study participants' symptoms could correspond to a diagnosis of generalised anxiety disorder. Participants who experienced more traumatic experiences throughout their lives, especially those such as humiliation, devaluation, insult by others, feeling unloved or worthless, experiences of abandonment, physical or sexual violence, persecution, or restriction of freedom, also reported experiencing more anxiety symptoms or had a higher risk of generalized anxiety disorder. |
