Childhood and adulthood trauma exposure: Associations with perinatal mental health and psychotherapy response

Trauma exposure is strongly linked to maternal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms during the perinatal period; however, childhood trauma exposure is often assessed without accounting for adult exposure. This study tested the unique impacts of childhood and adulthood trauma exposure on PTSD and depressive symptoms among pregnant women (N = 107, 82.9% Latina) enrolled in a nonrandomized intervention study. Regression analyses at baseline showed positive associations between trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms irrespective of trauma timing, childhood: B = 1.62, t(91) = 2.11, p = .038; adulthood: B = 2.92, t(91) = 3.04, p = .003. However only adulthood trauma exposure, B = 1.28, t(94) = 2.94, p = .004, was positively associated with depressive symptoms. Mixed-effects analyses of variance revealed interaction effects of time and adulthood trauma exposure, indicating that women with high degrees of adulthood trauma exposure had higher baseline levels of PTSD, F(1, 76.4) = 6.45, p = .013, and depressive symptoms, F(1, 87.2) = 4.88, p = .030, but showed a more precipitous decrease posttreatment than women with lower levels of adulthood trauma exposure. These findings support the clinical relevance of assessing both childhood and adulthood trauma exposure during the perinatal period given their impacts on baseline symptoms and psychotherapy response.

Automated summary

This study examines the impacts of childhood and adulthood trauma exposure on PTSD and depressive symptoms among pregnant women. The results show that trauma exposure during both childhood and adulthood are associated with higher levels of PTSD symptoms. Only adulthood trauma exposure is positively associated with depressive symptoms. Women with higher levels of adulthood trauma exposure have higher baseline levels of PTSD and depressive symptoms, but also show a more significant decrease in symptoms posttreatment.