This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sansone, R. A. Articles by Pole, M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

The Relationship Between Number of Types of Childhood Trauma, Number of Psychophysiological Disorders, and Length of Medical Disability

Departments of Psychiatry and Internal Medicine, Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio; Sycamore Primary Care Center, 2115 Leiter Road, Miamisburg, OH 45342; Randy.sansone{at}kmcnetwork.org; Department of Psychiatry Education, Kettering Medical Center, Kettering, Ohio

Melissa Butler

Hassan Dakroub

Department of Internal Medicine, Kettering Medical Center, Kettering, Ohio

Michele Pole

Clinical Psychology Program, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

According to the empirical literature, childhood abuse appears to have a number of negative clinical effects on psychophysiological disorders, including higher symptom levels and greater functional disability. However, prior studies in this area have typically examined only one or two types of childhood trauma (e.g., sexual and physical abuse) as well as only one type of psychophysiological disorder. Likewise, few studies have explicitly examined the relationship of these variables to employment disability for medical reasons. In this study, the authors wanted to explore the relationships, if any, between the number of types of childhood adversity (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, witnessing violence, physical neglect) and the number of psychophysiological disorders reported (up to six checklist items), and their relationship to the length of employment disability for medical reasons in adulthood. Using a cross sectional sample and a self-report survey method, the authors examined 97 internal medicine outpatients. It was found that both the number of childhood-trauma types (r = .23, p < .05) and the number of psychophysiological disorders (r = .26, p < .05) were related to the duration of medical disability. Through regression analysis, it was also found that the number of psychophysiological disorders made a unique, albeit small (i.e., 6% of the variance), contribution to the length of medical disability, whereas the number of childhood abuses did not. However, the interaction between the two variables accounted for an additional 11% of the variance. These findings suggest that the number of types of childhood abuses as well as the number of psychophysiological disorders have an influence on the length of medical disability but in uniquely influential ways.

Key Words: child trauma • disability • medical disability • child abuse • childhood adversity

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?