[slides and audio] Childhood adversities and adult psychopathology in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys

The study examines the joint associations of 12 childhood adversities with the first onset of 20 DSM-IV disorders in the World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys across 21 countries. The surveys assessed childhood adversities and lifetime DSM-IV disorders using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Childhood adversities, particularly those associated with maladaptive family functioning (e.g., parental mental illness, child abuse, neglect), were highly prevalent and interrelated. These adversities were strong predictors of disorders, with 29.8% of all disorders attributed to them. The results suggest that childhood adversities have strong associations with all classes of disorders at all life-course stages in all groups of WMH countries, indicating the existence of undetermined mediators. The study also found that interventions targeting multiple childhood adversities and their long-term psychological and behavioral consequences may be more effective than interventions focusing on a single adversity.The study examines the joint associations of 12 childhood adversities with the first onset of 20 DSM-IV disorders in the World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys across 21 countries. The surveys assessed childhood adversities and lifetime DSM-IV disorders using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Childhood adversities, particularly those associated with maladaptive family functioning (e.g., parental mental illness, child abuse, neglect), were highly prevalent and interrelated. These adversities were strong predictors of disorders, with 29.8% of all disorders attributed to them. The results suggest that childhood adversities have strong associations with all classes of disorders at all life-course stages in all groups of WMH countries, indicating the existence of undetermined mediators. The study also found that interventions targeting multiple childhood adversities and their long-term psychological and behavioral consequences may be more effective than interventions focusing on a single adversity.