Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Psychotic Symptoms in Patients with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Introduction

The association between childhood trauma and psychotic symptoms is still not clearly understood. Findings for positive and negative symptoms are confounding. This symptomatic response may differ according to the type of childhood trauma, for example childhood abuse was associated with positive symptoms while childhood neglect was associated with negative symptoms.

Objectives

This study examined the relationship between childhood trauma and psychotic symptoms in schizophrenic patients after controlling for the possible confounding factors, such as clinical features, depression, and sleep quality.

Methods

The childhood trauma questionnaire – short form, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia, Pittsburgh sleep quality index, and the suicidality subscale of mini-international neuropsychiatric interview were administered to 199 patients with schizophrenia. We used sequential multiple stepwise regression analyses in which positive symptoms, negative symptoms, overall psychopathology and total symptoms of schizophrenia were dependent variables.

Results

Depressive symptomatology and childhood physical abuse (CPA) significantly contributed to positive, negative, general psychopathology and global schizophrenia symptomatology. Stepwise regression analysis results are presented in Table 1.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that CPA during childhood could have an impact on psychopathology in schizophrenia.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Table 1 Stepwise regression analysis results.