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What life course theoretical models best explain the relationship between exposure to childhood adversity and psychopathology symptoms: recency, accumulation, or sensitive periods?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2018

Erin C. Dunn ,
Thomas W. Soare ,
Miriam R. Raffeld ,
Daniel S. Busso ,
Katherine M. Crawford ,
Kathryn A. Davis ,
Virginia A. Fisher ,
Natalie Slopen ,
Andrew D.A.C. Smith  and
Henning Tiemeier
...Show all authors
Erin C. Dunn*
Affiliation:
Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
Thomas W. Soare
Affiliation:
Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
Miriam R. Raffeld
Affiliation:
Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Daniel S. Busso
Affiliation:
Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, USA
Katherine M. Crawford
Affiliation:
Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Kathryn A. Davis
Affiliation:
Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Virginia A. Fisher
Affiliation:
Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Natalie Slopen
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Andrew D.A.C. Smith
Affiliation:
Applied Statistics Group, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
Henning Tiemeier
Affiliation:
Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Ezra S. Susser
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Erin C. Dunn, E-mail: edunn2@mgh.Harvard.edu, Website: www.thedunnlab.com
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Abstract

Background

Although childhood adversity is a potent determinant of psychopathology, relatively little is known about how the characteristics of adversity exposure, including its developmental timing or duration, influence subsequent mental health outcomes. This study compared three models from life course theory (recency, accumulation, sensitive period) to determine which one(s) best explained this relationship.

Methods

Prospective data came from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n = 7476). Four adversities commonly linked to psychopathology (caregiver physical/emotional abuse; sexual/physical abuse; financial stress; parent legal problems) were measured repeatedly from birth to age 8. Using a statistical modeling approach grounded in least angle regression, we determined the theoretical model(s) explaining the most variability (r2) in psychopathology symptoms measured at age 8 using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and evaluated the magnitude of each association.

Results

Recency was the best fitting theoretical model for the effect of physical/sexual abuse (girls r2 = 2.35%; boys r2 = 1.68%). Both recency (girls r2 = 1.55%) and accumulation (boys r2 = 1.71%) were the best fitting models for caregiver physical/emotional abuse. Sensitive period models were chosen alone (parent legal problems in boys r2 = 0.29%) and with accumulation (financial stress in girls r2 = 3.08%) more rarely. Substantial effect sizes were observed (standardized mean differences = 0.22–1.18).

Conclusions

Child psychopathology symptoms are primarily explained by recency and accumulation models. Evidence for sensitive periods did not emerge strongly in these data. These findings underscore the need to measure the characteristics of adversity, which can aid in understanding disease mechanisms and determining how best to reduce the consequences of exposure to adversity.

Keywords

Childhood adversitysensitive periodlife courserecencyaccumulationpsychopathology
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 48 , Issue 15 , November 2018 , pp. 2562 - 2572
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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