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European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 9/2011

01-09-2011 | Original Contribution

The association of chronic adversity with psychiatric disorder and disorder severity in adolescents

Authors: Corina Benjet, Guilherme Borges, Enrique Méndez, Clara Fleiz, Maria Elena Medina-Mora

Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry | Issue 9/2011

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of chronic adversity on psychopathology in adolescents, taking into account the type of adversity, number of adversities experienced and type of psychiatric disorder, as well as to estimate the impact on severity of the disorder. A total of 3,005 male and female adolescents from the Mexican Adolescent Mental Health Survey aged 12–17 years were interviewed in a stratified multistage general population probability survey. Assessment of 20 DSM-IV disorders, disorder severity and 12 chronic childhood adversities were assessed with the adolescent version of the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI-A). Family dysfunction adversities including abuse presented the most consistent associations between chronic adversity and psychopathology and their impact was generally non-specific with regard to the type of disorder. Parental divorce, parental death and economic adversity were not individually associated with psychopathology. Among those with a psychiatric disorder, sexual abuse and family violence were associated with having a seriously impairing disorder. The odds of having a psychiatric disorder and a serious disorder increased with increasing numbers of adversities; however, each additional adversity increased the odds at a decreasing rate. While the study design does not allow for conclusions regarding causality, these findings suggest general pathways from family dysfunction to psychopathology rather than specific associations between particular adversities and particular disorders, and provide further evidence for the importance of family-focused intervention and prevention efforts.
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Metadata
Title
The association of chronic adversity with psychiatric disorder and disorder severity in adolescents
Authors
Corina Benjet
Guilherme Borges
Enrique Méndez
Clara Fleiz
Maria Elena Medina-Mora
Publication date
01-09-2011
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry / Issue 9/2011
Print ISSN: 1018-8827
Electronic ISSN: 1435-165X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-011-0199-8

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