The experience of childhood trauma and its influence on the course of illness in first-episode psychosis: A qualitative study

Jens Einar Jansen*, Marlene Buch Pedersen, Anne Marie Trauelsen, Hanne-Grethe Lyse Nielsen, Ulrik Helt Haahr, Erik Simonsen

*Corresponding author for this work
9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders often report high levels of childhood trauma, which often exacerbates symptoms and impede the process of recovery. However, little is known about how these traumas are experienced by service users and how they are integrated in their life stories. To examine this, we conducted in-depth interviews with 15 service users with a diagnosis of a first-episode nonaffective psychosis who had reported 1 or more childhood traumas in self-report measures. Therewas an unexpected discrepancy between the number of traumas reported in self-report measures and in semistructured interviews, and many of the traumas did not seem integrated in their personal narratives. The analyses further revealed that although participants often described complicated and traumatic childhood environments, they still felt supported by their families; they reported a range of ways in which they tried to copewith and gain control of their psychotic disorder, and they described a general optimistic view of the future.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Volume204
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)210-216
Number of pages7
ISSN0022-3018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Adverse events
  • Early intervention
  • First-episode psychosis
  • Qualitative research
  • Sealing over
  • Trauma

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