Family functioning, trauma exposure and PTSD: A cross sectional study.

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Only a minority of trauma-exposed individuals develop post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Childhood maladaptive family functioning adversities (MFFA) may explain individual differences in PTSD vulnerability.
• Previous research is primarily from high-income countries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between MFFA and trauma exposure in a lower-middle-income setting (Sri Lanka).
• To examine if MFFA moderates the link between trauma exposure and subsequent PTSD or other psychiatric diagnoses.
• To determine if interpersonal violence, cumulative trauma, or comorbid psychopathology explain the MFFA-PTSD association.

Main Methods:

• Population-based study in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• Included 3995 twins and 2019 singletons.
• Utilized the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and an MFFA questionnaire.

Main Results:

• 23.4% of participants reported MFFA.
• MFFA was strongly associated with trauma exposure.
• MFFA significantly moderated the association between trauma exposure and both PTSD and other psychiatric diagnoses.

Conclusions:

• Maladaptive family functioning adversities (MFFA) moderate the relationship between trauma and PTSD.
• MFFA also influences the association between trauma and non-PTSD psychopathology.
• These effects were independent of interpersonal violence, cumulative trauma, or comorbid psychopathology.