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In a recent analysis of data from the German National Cohort (NAKO), researchers investigated the connection between childhood trauma and the probability of diagnosis of selected diseases. They were able to show that traumatic experiences in childhood were associated with a higher risk of physical and mental illnesses in adulthood. This risk of diseases was found to be particularly high in younger people.
The definition of ‘childhood trauma’ covers various types of abuse and neglect in childhood and adolescence. The level to which trauma is associated with diseases in adulthood can depend on various factors, such as age, gender and the type of trauma experienced.
Researchers under the lead of the University Medicine Greifswald have analysed these correlations based on the data of 156,807 adults participating in the German National Cohort (NAKO). They focussed on diseases with a high individual burden of disease and social relevance. These included cancer, heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), anxiety disorders and depression.
The traumas were documented using a standardised questionnaire in five categories: emotional, physical and sexual abuse as well as emotional and physical neglect. A third of the participants with childhood trauma reported multiple types of traumatisations, with the combination of emotional and physical trauma being the most frequently described. The researchers found that overall, childhood trauma was associated with a higher probability of developing both mental and physical diseases in adulthood. Mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders and depression were more common after the experience of childhood trauma than physical ones. All of these correlations were particularly high in younger adults, regardless of the type of childhood trauma. ‘The results could indicate that childhood trauma is more strongly associated with a diagnosis the nearer the start of the disease is to the the date of traumatisation. For example, the age of diagnosis for depression is usually in early adulthood,’ says Dr Johanna Klinger-König, a researcher at the University Medical Centre Greifswald.
Differences between the sexes were only observed for individual diseases. In terms of diseases as adults, women reported cancer, anxiety and depression diagnoses more frequently. Men reported diagnoses of heart attack and diabetes more often.
‘Childhood traumas are individual events over which the victim has little or no control. The diseases that can occur in adulthood in connection with childhood trauma are a heavy burden for those affected and for society. It is therefore important to recognise childhood trauma at an early stage and offer targeted therapies and preventative measures,’ says Professor Dr Hans Jörgen Grabe, Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Greifswald University Hospital.
Future research projects are to be extended to other mental illnesses and diseases in the psychiatric field. In particular, the scientists would like to investigate the factors that influence the links between trauma and secondary diseases.
Dr. Johanna Klinger-König
Universitätsmedizin Greifswald
Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
Originalpublikation
Klinger-König J, Erhardt A, Streit F, et al. Childhood trauma and somatic and mental illness in adulthood—findings of the NAKO health study. Deutsches Ärzteblatt international. 2024. http://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.m2023.0225
https://nako.de/en/press-releases/the-shadows-of-childhood-how-trauma-can-affect...
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