Here is another article for the "does a bear shit in the woods" file. OF COURSE social anxiety and PTSD are connected to developmental trauma - almost EVERYTHING we call mental illness is the result of developmental trauma or shock trauma.

On the bright side, at least someone is doing the research and writing the articles - in time, maybe we will stop looking for the magic pill to make it all better and start paying attention to how our children are being raised. If we want to reduce the psychological adaptations we call mental illness, then we need to start with teaching people how to be good nurturing parents (which means helping them deal with their own traumas).

Full Citation:
Bishop, M. Rosenstein, D, Bakelaar, S, and Seedat, S. (2014, May 29). An analysis of early developmental trauma in social anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Annals of General Psychiatry; 13:16. doi:10.1186/1744-859X-13-16

An analysis of early developmental trauma in social anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder

Melanie Bishop, David Rosenstein, Susanne Bakelaar and Soraya Seedat
Author Affiliations

Abstract (provisional)

Background

The early contributions of childhood trauma (emotional, physical, sexual, and general) have been hypothesized to play a significant role in the development of anxiety disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD). The aim of this study was to assess childhood trauma differences between PTSD and SAD patients and healthy controls, as measured by the Early Trauma Inventory.

Methods

We examined individuals (N = 109) with SAD with moderate/severe early developmental trauma (EDT) (n = 32), individuals with SAD with low/no EDT (n = 29), individuals with PTSD with EDT (n = 17), and healthy controls (n = 31). The mean age was 34 years (SD = 11). Subjects were screened with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Analysis of variance was performed to assess group differences. Correlations were calculated between childhood traumas.

Results

Although not statistically significant, individuals with PTSD endorsed more physical and sexual childhood trauma compared with individuals with SAD with moderate/severe EDT who endorsed more emotional trauma. For all groups, physical and emotional abuse occurred between ages 6 and 11, while the occurrence of sexual abuse in individuals with PTSD was at 6-11 years and later (13-18 years) in individuals with SAD with moderate/severe EDT. For emotional abuse in all groups, the perpetrator was mostly a primary female caregiver; for sexual abuse, it was mostly a nonfamilial adult male, while for physical abuse, it was mostly a caregiver (male in PTSD and female in SAD with moderate/severe EDT).

Conclusions

The contribution of childhood abuse to the development of PTSD and SAD and the differences between these groups and other anxiety disorders should not be ignored and attention should be given to the frequency and severity of these events. The relationship of the perpetrator(s) and the age of onset of childhood abuse are also important considerations as they provide a useful starting point to assess impact over the life course. This can, in turn, guide clinicians on the optimal timing for the delivery of interventions for the prevention of PTSD and SAD.

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.