It has long been known that childhood trauma has lasting psychological effects. New research delves deeper into how different types of childhood trauma influence different aspects of anger in adulthood. The survey results are Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavicaprovides valuable insight into the long-term effects of childhood trauma and may have important implications for mental health treatment.
Childhood trauma, including physical and emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect, is a serious public health concern because it can have long-term effects on an individual’s mental and emotional health. is. Previous research has shown a strong link between childhood trauma and increased risk of depression and anxiety disorders in adulthood.
Emotional regulation, or the ability to appropriately manage and express emotions, is an important element in this relationship. Children who have experienced trauma may have difficulty regulating their emotions due to insensitivity from their caregivers or poor self-regulation. This heightened emotional awareness may lead to earlier recognition of threats and a lower threshold for experiencing anger later in life. Additionally, exposure to uncontrolled anger from caregivers may increase an individual’s risk of becoming angry and aggressive.
Previous studies have found a link between childhood trauma and anger in adulthood, with some studies focusing on anger traits (the tendency to experience anger) and others focusing on anger expression and control. There are also studies that have investigated various structures of anger. Longitudinal studies also show that childhood abuse can predict anger in adulthood. However, the relationship between childhood trauma and anger is understudied for individuals with affective disorders, where anger is prevalent and can impact treatment outcomes.
“In our previous research, we found that anger is prevalent in patients with depression and anxiety disorders,” said study author Nienke de Bres, a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University Medical Center. Ta. “This can be problematic because, in adults, high levels of anger can disrupt treatment and worsen treatment outcomes. Therefore, treatment efficacy for depression and anxiety disorders may be affected. To better sustain anger, it may be important to consider who is more prone to angry feelings and behaviors.”
“Previous research has shown that childhood maltreatment predicts anger in adulthood, but the relationship has been less studied among patients with affective disorders. The purpose of the study was to investigate the association between childhood trauma and anger in adulthood in a cohort that included participants with no mental illness and currently remitted or comorbid depression and anxiety disorders. there were.”
This study was conducted in the Netherlands and used the following data: Dutch Depression and Anxiety Study (NESDA), a longitudinal prospective cohort study designed to investigate the course of depression and anxiety disorders over several years. The study included participants with a variety of mental health conditions, including those with current or remitted depression and anxiety disorders, those with comorbid conditions, and those with no lifetime history of mental illness (referred to as the “healthy control group”). included.
At baseline, NESDA recruited 2,981 participants between 18 and 65 years of age from 2004 to 2007. A four-year follow-up study was conducted from 2008 to 2011, during which anger-related measures were assessed. To investigate the relationship between childhood trauma and anger in adulthood, researchers excluded participants with missing data on childhood trauma or anger measures, resulting in a final sample of 2,271 participants. was extracted.
Researchers found several significant connections between childhood trauma and various aspects of anger in adulthood. These findings were consistent even after adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical covariates.
“Our findings indicate that childhood trauma history is positively associated with anger outcomes in adulthood, including a dose-response relationship. “This means that those with higher numbers report more angry feelings and engage in more angry behaviors as adults,” Debress told SciPost.
Participants who reported higher levels of childhood trauma also had higher trait anger scores. This suggests that people who experience more trauma in childhood are more likely to experience anger as adults.
The prevalence of angry aggression was significantly higher in participants who had experienced childhood trauma. This indicates that people with a history of childhood trauma are more likely to experience sudden anger, which is often accompanied by autonomic activation.
Childhood trauma was associated with increased prevalence of borderline personality traits. Emotional neglect and psychological abuse were particularly strong predictors of these traits, suggesting that these types of trauma have significant effects on emotional regulation and interpersonal relationships.
Although fewer participants in this study exhibited antisocial personality traits, childhood trauma, particularly physical abuse, was associated with an increased likelihood of exhibiting these traits. This suggests that physical abuse in childhood may contribute to antisocial behavior in adulthood.
Researchers also looked at specific types of childhood trauma associated with anger outcomes. Emotional neglect emerged as a key factor and significantly predicted both angry traits and borderline personality traits. Physical abuse, on the other hand, was a major predictor of angry aggression and antisocial personality traits. Interestingly, sexual abuse was only associated with borderline personality traits, indicating a unique relationship between this type of trauma and emotional regulation.
“All subtypes, except sexual abuse, were associated with a variety of anger outcomes, including anger built into a person’s personality and anger in the form of angry attacks,” Debress said.
Although this study provides valuable insight into the relationship between childhood trauma and anger in adulthood, there are several limitations that should be considered. This study relies on self-reported measurements, which may introduce reporting bias. “The consequences of anger were assessed only once,” de Bres pointed out. “Also, because we were unable to distinguish between environmental and genetic influences, we were unable to draw firm conclusions about the causal role of childhood trauma in the onset and development of anger in adulthood.”
Nevertheless, this finding has important practical implications for mental health professionals and their patients. Screening for childhood trauma history and assessing anger-related symptoms may help plan treatment more effectively.
“Anger is important to address in treatment because it is a limiting factor and often leads to dropout and poor treatment outcomes,” explained de Bres. “Unfortunately, emotional regulation difficulties and impulsive behavior are thought to have the potential to worsen an individual’s symptoms and are often seen as limiting factors in treatment. As a result, patients receive potentially beneficial additional treatment. You won’t be able to do that.”
“To stop cycles of abuse, clinicians should always ask about emotional and angry attacks, investigate adverse childhood experiences, and initiate trauma-focused interventions when appropriate. We believe that explaining the relationship between childhood trauma and adult anger is important because education about emotion regulation is an important part of approaches to reducing anger. It is important.”
the study, “Childhood trauma and anger in adults with and without depression and anxiety disorders.” was written by NJ de Bles, LEH Pütz, N. Rius Ottenheim, AM van Hemert, BM Elzinga, BWJH Penninx, and EJ Giltay.
