The epidemiology of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in a representative cohort of young people in England and Wales

Publication date: March 2019Source: The Lancet Psychiatry, Volume 6, Issue 3Author(s): Stephanie J Lewis, Louise Arseneault, Avshalom Caspi, Helen L Fisher, Timothy Matthews, Terrie E Moffitt, Candice L Odgers, Daniel Stahl, Jia Ying Teng, Andrea DaneseSummaryBackgroundDespite the emphasis placed on childhood trauma in psychiatry, comparatively little is known about the epidemiology of trauma and trauma-related psychopathology in young people. We therefore aimed to evaluate the prevalence, clinical features, and risk factors associated with trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in young people.MethodsWe carried out a comprehensive epidemiological study based on participants from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a population-representative birth-cohort of 2232 children born in England and Wales in 1994–95. At the follow-up home visit at age 18 years, participants were assessed with structured interviews for trauma exposure, PTSD, other psychopathology, risk events, functional impairment, and service use. Risk factors for PTSD were measured prospectively over four previous assessments between age 5 and 12 years. The key outcomes were the prevalence, clinical features, and risk factors associated with trauma exposure and PTSD. We also derived and tested the internal validity of a PTSD risk calculator.FindingsWe found that 642 (31·1%) of 2064 participants reported trauma exposure and 160 (7·8%) of 2063 experienced PTSD by age 18 years. Traum...
Source: The Lancet Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research