Adverse Events in Childhood May Raise Health, Socioeconomic Risks in Adulthood

A study published this week in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report adds to the growing body of evidence indicating that experiencing adverse events in childhood such as abuse or witnessing intimate partner violence increases the risk of numerous negative health and socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used data from more than 144,000 respondents who participated in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 2015 to 2017. The BRFSS is an annual state-based telephone survey of adults in which participants report on their health behaviors and whether health care professionals had ever diagnosed them with a health condition. The researchers drew the data from 25 states that had added questions to the BRFSS to assess participants’ exposure to eight types of adverse childhood experiences, including physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; household member substance misuse, incarceration, or mental illness; parental divorce; or witnessing intimate partner violence.

Overall, 60.9% of participants had been exposed to at least one type of adverse childhood experience, and 15.6% had been exposed to four or more. The more types of adverse childhood experiences participants were exposed to, the more likely they were to engage in risky health behaviors or have chronic health conditions or socioeconomic challenges as adults. For example, participants who were exposed to four or more types of adverse childhood events were five times more likely to have depression, roughly three times more likely to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or smoke, and nearly twice as likely to have coronary heart disease, drink heavily, or be unemployed compared with participants who reported no exposure to adverse childhood experiences.

The researchers noted that the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences was higher among people aged 34 years and younger, possibly because of differences in risk among people in that age group, their willingness to disclose their history, or their ability to recall adverse childhood experiences.

“Strategies to prevent adverse childhood experiences in the first place and to intervene with those who have been exposed to adverse childhood experiences might help to reduce prevalence of engaging in health risk behaviors [such as smoking or drinking] in young adulthood and subsequent negative health outcomes,” the researchers wrote. “These strategies might also help to break the multigenerational cycle of adverse childhood experiences as these age groups are most likely to start families or raise children.”

For related information, see the Psychiatric News article “Positive Childhood Experiences May Counteract Adverse Experiences” and the Psychiatric Services article “State Legislators’ Opinions About Adverse Childhood Experiences as Risk Factors for Adult Behavioral Health Conditions.”

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Hospitalization for Psychosis Tied to Substance Misuse, Treatment Delays, Medication Nonadherence

The hospitalization rate for patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) may be reduced by avoiding delays in initial treatment, preventing substance misuse, and enhancing medication adherence, according to a study published Tuesday in Psychiatric Services in Advance.

Even with current, evidence-based treatment, at least one-third of individuals with FEP will be hospitalized within two years of diagnosis, increasing treatment costs, disrupting schooling, and often, resulting in stress and trauma, wrote Delbert G. Robinson, M.D., of the Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, and colleagues.

To identify risk factors for hospitalization, researchers evaluated data from the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode-Early Treatment Program (RAISE-ETP) study, which compared outcomes in patients experiencing a first episode of psychosis who received early intervention services versus usual care. (Patients in the early intervention group received personalized medication management, family psychoeducation, resilience-focused individual therapy, and supported education and employment. Those in the usual-care group received psychosis treatment determined by individual and clinician choice and service availability. The study found that those in the early intervention program remained in treatment longer, experienced greater improvement in quality of life and psychopathology, and experienced greater involvement in work and school, compared with those in the usual-care group.)

As part of the original study, researchers conducted a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV at baseline and assessed various other clinical measures every six months thereafter. Every month during the trial, researchers asked participants about their use of inpatient and emergency mental health services and assessed drug and alcohol use. At multiple times throughout the trial, the participants also rated their mental and emotional health and took various other evaluations.

Based on these data, Robinson and colleagues found that patients with longer duration of untreated psychosis, more hospitalizations before study entry, positive psychosis symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, illegal drug use, and doubts about the value of medication were more likely to be hospitalized during the two-year treatment period.

The study findings could assist clinicians in developing more effective early intervention services. “Individuals enter outpatient treatment with an already fixed number of prior hospitalizations and [duration of untreated psychosis]. Changing these factors will require public health initiatives and innovative outreach strategies to facilitate earlier entry into treatment,” the researchers wrote. “Current [early intervention services] models include interventions to help individuals decrease substance misuse, achieve symptom reduction, and understand medications and adherence. Some of these interventions have low participation … suggesting that more effort may be needed to motivate individuals to use available services.”

For more information, see the Psychiatric News article “Psychosocial Treatments Found Effective for Early Psychosis” and the American Journal of Psychiatry article “Comprehensive Versus Usual Community Care for First-Episode Psychosis: 2-Year Outcomes From the NIMH RAISE Early Treatment Program.”

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