Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T00:06:15.818Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A cognitive behavioural perspective on the relationship between childhood trauma and psychosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2011

Anthony P. Morrison
Anthony P. Morrison*
Affiliation:
School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester (United Kingdom) Psychosis Research Unit, GMWMHFT
*
Address fo correspondence: Professor t. Morrison, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom). E-mail: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This editorial reviews the relationship between childhood trauma and the development of psychosis in adulthood. There are numerous studies, including large, prospective studies, which clearly support a link between childhood adversity and experience of psychosis later in life. There is also evidence that there is a dose response relationship, and that childhood trauma is particularly associated with the experience of hallucinations and delusional ideas. It is possible that psychosis is a relatively understandable response to the experience of severe trauma, and recent cognitive models of psychosis can help to explain the underlying mechanisms in such a causal relationship. There are obvious treatment implications, which include the need to assess histories of childhood trauma in people with psychosis, the incorporation of trauma in shared understandings of psychosis with service users, the incorporation of change strategies in cognitive behaviour therapy for psychosis that are derived from evidence-based approaches to the treatment of trauma and PTSD, and the prevention of traumatisation by mental health services.

Declaration of Interest: None.

Keywords

sexual abuse in childhoodpsychosismechanism of psychiatric symptoms
Type
Editorials
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , December 2009 , pp. 294 - 298
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

References

REFERENCES

Andrew, E.M., Gray, N.S. & Snowden, R.J. (2008). The relationship between trauma and beliefs about hearing voices: a study of psychiatric and non-psychiatric voice hearers. Psychological Medicine 38, 1409–1417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bak, M., Krabbendam, L., Janssen, I., de Graaf, R., Vollebergh, W. & van Os, J. (2005). Early trauma may increase the risk for psychotic experiences by impacting on emotional response and perception of control. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 112, 360–366.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bebbington, P.E., Bhugra, D., Brugha, T., Singleton, N., Farrell, M., Jenkins, R., Lewis, G. & Meltzer, H. (2004). Psychosis, victimisation and childhood disadvantage: Evidence from the second British National Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity. British Journal of Psychiatry 185, 220–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bentall, R.P. (2003). Madness Explained: Psychosis and Human Nature. Penguin Books Ltd: London.Google Scholar
Bentall, R.P., Corcoran, R., Howard, R., Blackwood, R. & Kinderman, P. (2001). Persecutory delusions: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review 22, 1–50.Google Scholar
Bernstein, D.P., Fink, L., Handelsman, L., Foote, J., Lovejoy, M., Wenzel, K., Sapareto, E. & Ruggiero, J. (1994). Initial reliability and validity of a new retrospective measure of child abuse and neglect. American Journal of Psychiatry 151, 1132–1136.Google ScholarPubMed
Bifulco, A., Bernazzani, O., Moran, P., & Jacobs, C. (2005). The Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q) – Validation in a community series. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 44, 563–581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, M., & Morrison, A.P. (2007). The relationship between bullying, psychotic-like experiences and appraisals in 14–16 year olds. Behaviour Research and Therapy 45, 1579–1591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chadwick, P.D., Birchwood, M.J. & Trower, P. (1996). Cognitive Therapy for Delusions, Voices and Paranoia. Wiley: Chichester.Google Scholar
Davies, E. & Burdett, J. (2004). Preventing ‘schizophrenia’: creating the conditions for saner societies. In Models of Madness: Psychological, Social and Biological Approaches to Schizophrenia (ed. Read, J., Mosher, L.R., Bentall, R.P.). Brunner-Routledge: Hove.Google Scholar
Ehlers, A. & Clark, D.M. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy 38, 319–345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fowler, D., Garety, P. & Kuipers, E. (1995). Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy for Psychosis: Theory and Practice. Wiley: Chichester.Google Scholar
Frame, L. & Morrison, A.P. (2001). Causes of post traumatic stress disorder in psychotic patients. Archives of General Psychiatry 58, 305–306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garety, P.A., Kuipers, E., Fowler, D., Freeman, D. & Bebbington, P.E. (2001). A cognitive model of the positive symptoms of psychosis. Psychological Medicine 31, 189–195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, B.L. (1996). Trauma History Questionnaire. In Measurements of Stress, Trauma and Adaptation (ed. Stamm, B.H.), pp. 366–368. Sidran: Lutherville, MD.Google Scholar
Honig, A., Romme, M.A.J., Ensink, B.J., Escher, S.D.M.A.C., Pennings, M.H.A. & DeVries, M. W. (1998). Auditory hallucinations: A comparison between patients and nonpatients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 186, 646–651.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, C., Knott, C., Skeate, A. & Birchwood, M. (2004). The trauma of first episode psychosis: the role of cognitive mediation. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 38, 327–333.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janssen, I., Krabbendam, L., Bak, M., Hanssen, M., Vollebergh, W., de Graaf, R. & van Os, J. (2004). Childhood abuse as a risk factor for psychotic experiences. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 109, 38–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johns, L.C. & van Os, J. (2001). The continuity of psychotic experiences in the general population. Clinical Psychology Review 21, 1125–1141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Katsakou, C. & Priebe, S. (2007). Patient's experiences of involuntary hospital admission and treatment: a review of qualitative studies. Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale 16, 172–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelleher, I., Harley, M., Lynch, F., Arseneault, L., Fitzpatrick, C. & Cannon, M. (2008). Associations between childhood trauma, bullying and psychotic symptoms among a school-based adolescent sample. British Journal of Psychiatry 193, 378–382.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kilcommons, A. & Morrison, A.P. (2005). Relationships between trauma and psychosis: an exploration of cognitive and dissociative factors. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 112, 351–359.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kilcommons, A., Morrison, A.P., Knight, A. & Lobban, F. (2008). Psychotic experiences in people who have been sexually assaulted. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 43, 602–611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kingdon, D. & Turkington, D. (2005). Cognitive Therapy for Schizophrenia. Guilford Press: New York.Google Scholar
Kuipers, E. & Bebbington, P. (2006). Cognitive behaviour therapy for psychosis. Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale 15, 267–275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larkin, W. & Morrison, A.P. (2006). Trauma and Psychosis: New Directions in Theory and Therapy. Taylor and Francis: London.Google Scholar
Lataster, T., Van Os, J., Drukker, M., Henquet, C., Feron, F.J., Gunther, N. & Myin Germeys, I. (2006). Childhood victimisation and developmental expression of non-clinical delusional ideation and hallucinatory experiences. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 41, 423–428.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGorry, P.D., Chanen, A., McCarthy, E., van Riel, R., McKenzie, D. & Singh, B.S. (1991). Post traumatic stress disorder following recent onset psychosis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 179, 253–258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morrison, A.P. (2001). The interpretation of intrusions in psychosis: An integrative cognitive approach to hallucinations and delusions. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 29, 257–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, A. & Petersen, T. (2003). Trauma, metacognition and predisposition to hallucinations in non-patients. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 31, 235–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, A.P. & Wells, A. (2000). Thought control strategies in schizophrenia: A comparison with non-patients. Behaviour Research and Therapy 38, 1205–1209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morrison, A.P., Frame, L. & Larkin, W. (2003a). Relationships between trauma and psychosis: a review and integration. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 42, 331–353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morrison, A.P., Renton, J.C., Dunn, H., Williams, S. & Bentall, R.P. (2003b). Cognitive Therapy for Psychosis: a Formulation-based Approach. Psychology Press: London.Google Scholar
Morrison, A.P., French, P., Walford, L., Lewis, S.W., Kilcommons, A., Green, J., Parker, S. & Bentall, R.P. (2004). Cognitive therapy for the prevention of psychosis in people at ultra-high risk: Randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Psychiatry 185, 291–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morrison, A.P., Gumley, A.I., Schwannauer, M., Campbell, M., Gleeson, A., Griffin, E. & Gillan, K. (2005). The beliefs about paranoia scale: Preliminary validation of a metacognitive approach to conceptualising paranoia. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 33, 153–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, A.P., Gumley, A., Ashcroft, K., Manousos, R., White, R. & Kingdon, D. (submitted for publication). Metacognition and perse-cutory delusions: A validation of the Beliefs about Paranoia Scale in a clinical population.Google Scholar
Mueser, K.T., Goodman, L.B., Trumbetta, S.L., Rosenberg, S.D., Osher, F.C., Vidaver, R., Auciello, P. & Foy, D.W. (1998). Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in severe mental illness. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 66, 493–499.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mueser, K.T., Rosenberg, S.D., Goodman, L.A. & Trumbetta, S.L. (2002). Trauma, PTSD and the course of severe mental illness: an interactive model. Schizophrenia Research 53, 123–143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Read, J. (1997). Child abuse and psychosis: A literature review and implications for professional practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 28, 448–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Read, J. & Fraser, A. (1998a). Abuse histories of psychiatric inpatients: to ask or not to ask? Psychiatric Services 49, 355–359.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Read, J. & Fraser, A. (1998b). Staff response to abuse histories of psychiatric inpatients. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 32, 206–213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Read, J. & Haslam, N. (2004). Public opinion: bad things happen and can drive you crazy. In Models of Madness (ed. Read, J., Mosher, L.R., Bentall, R.P.), pp. 133–145. Bruner-Routledge: Hove.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Read, J., Perry, B.D., Moskowitz, A. & Connolly, J. (2001). The contribution of early traumatic events to schizophrenia in some patients: a traumagenic neurodevelopmental model. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes 64, 319–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Read, J., Goodman, L.A., Morrison, A.P., Ross, C.A. & Aderhold, V. (2004). Childhood trauma, loss and stress. In Models of Madness (ed. Read, J., Mosher, L.R., Bentall, R.P.). Bruner-Routledge: Hove.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Read, J., van Os, J., Morrison, A.P. & Ross, C.A. (2005). Childhood trauma, psychosis and schizophrenia: a literature review and clinical implications. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 112, 330–350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reynolds, M. & Wells, A. (1999). The thought control questionnaire: Psychometric properties in a clinical sample, and relationships with PTSD and depression. Psychological Medicine 29, 1089–1099.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, J., Chant, D., Andrews, G., Martin, G. & McGrath, J. (2007). Association between trauma exposure and delusional experiences in a large community-based sample. British Journal of Psychiatry 190, 339–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shevlin, M., Dorahy, M.J. & Adamson, G. (2007). Trauma and psychosis: An analysis of the National Comorbidity Survey. American Journal of Psychiatry 164, 166–169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, J.L., Kelly, M., Kimhy, D., Harkavy-Friedman, J.M., Khan, S., Messinger, J.W., Schobel, S., Goetz, R., Malaspina, D. & Corcoran, C. (2009). Childhood trauma and prodromal symptoms among individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis. Schizophrenia Research 108, 176–181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Os, J. (2003). Is there a continuum of psychotic experiences in the general population? Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale 12, 242–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walsh, E., Moran, P., Scott, C., McKenzie, K., Burns, T., Creed, F., Tyrer, P., Murray, R.M. & Fahy, T. (2003). Prevalence of violent victimisation in severe mental illness. British Journal of Psychiatry 183, 233–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitfield, C.L., Dube, S.R., Felitti, V.J. & Anda, R. (2005). Adverse childhood experiences and hallucinations. Child Abuse Neglect 29, 797–810.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, M., Read, J., Barker-Collo, S. & Harrison, R. (2001). Evaluating and overcoming barriers to taking abuse histories. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 32, 407–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar