Susana Sofia Pereira da Silva

The Stability of Self-Reported Adverse Experiences in Childhood A Longitudinal Study on Obesity

The literature on the effect of maltreatment has revealed several methodological problems of retrospective studies, such as the validity and stability of retrospective reports, which may be influenced by factors such as one’s mental health at the time of the report. This study aims to assess the temporal stability of self-reported adverse childhood experiences at three different time points, separated by 6 months each, and to analyze the relationship between general psychopathology and the number of reported experiences. Thirty obese participants responded to the Portuguese version of the Childhood History Questionnaire, a self-report measure that assesses adverse childhood experiences, and the Brief Symptom Inventory. The results suggest that adverse childhood experiences are common in these participants (time 1: X¯ = 1.87, SD = 1.3; time 2: X¯ = 1.98, SD = 1.6; time 3: X¯ = 1.98, SD = 1.6). The agreement levels, as measured by kappa values, were satisfactory for the dimensions of maltreatment focused on...The literature on the effect of maltreatment has revealed several methodological problems of retrospective studies, such as the validity and stability of retrospective reports, which may be influenced by factors such as one’s mental health at the time of the report. This study aims to assess the temporal stability of self-reported adverse childhood experiences at three different time points, separated by 6 months each, and to analyze the relationship between general psychopathology and the number of reported experiences. Thirty obese participants responded to the Portuguese version of the Childhood History Questionnaire, a self-report measure that assesses adverse childhood experiences, and the Brief Symptom Inventory. The results suggest that adverse childhood experiences are common in these participants (time 1: X ¯ = 1.87, SD = 1.3; time 2: X ¯ = 1.98, SD = 1.6; time 3: X ¯ = 1.98, SD = 1.6). The agreement levels, as measured by kappa values, were satisfactory for the dimensions of maltreatment focused on the individual, with kappas ranging between .34 and .44. Our participants did not exhibit psychopathology at any of the time points, and the psychopathological symptoms were not related to total adversity reported. The major contribution of this study is the comparison of self-reports at three time points, separated by significant time intervals, and the inclusion of 10 different dimensions of childhood adversity. The data show an adequate stability in the report of maltreatment toward the individual (abuse and physical neglect) and in specific aspects of adversity in the family.

The Stability of Self-Reported Adverse Experiences in Childhood

The literature on the effect of maltreatment has revealed several methodological problems of retrospective studies, such as the validity and stability of retrospective reports, which may be influenced by factors such as one’s mental health at the time of the report. This study aims to assess the temporal stability of self-reported adverse childhood experiences at three different time points, separated by 6 months each, and to analyze the relationship between general psychopathology and the number of reported experiences. Thirty obese participants responded to the Portuguese version of the Childhood History Questionnaire, a self-report measure that assesses adverse childhood experiences, and the Brief Symptom Inventory. The results suggest that adverse childhood experiences are common in these participants (time 1: X¯ = 1.87, SD = 1.3; time 2: X¯ = 1.98, SD = 1.6; time 3: X¯ = 1.98, SD = 1.6). The agreement levels, as measured by kappa values, were satisfactory for the dimensions of maltreatment focused on...The literature on the effect of maltreatment has revealed several methodological problems of retrospective studies, such as the validity and stability of retrospective reports, which may be influenced by factors such as one’s mental health at the time of the report. This study aims to assess the temporal stability of self-reported adverse childhood experiences at three different time points, separated by 6 months each, and to analyze the relationship between general psychopathology and the number of reported experiences. Thirty obese participants responded to the Portuguese version of the Childhood History Questionnaire, a self-report measure that assesses adverse childhood experiences, and the Brief Symptom Inventory. The results suggest that adverse childhood experiences are common in these participants (time 1: X ¯ = 1.87, SD = 1.3; time 2: X ¯ = 1.98, SD = 1.6; time 3: X ¯ = 1.98, SD = 1.6). The agreement levels, as measured by kappa values, were satisfactory for the dimensions of maltreatment focused on the individual, with kappas ranging between .34 and .44. Our participants did not exhibit psychopathology at any of the time points, and the psychopathological symptoms were not related to total adversity reported. The major contribution of this study is the comparison of self-reports at three time points, separated by significant time intervals, and the inclusion of 10 different dimensions of childhood adversity. The data show an adequate stability in the report of maltreatment toward the individual (abuse and physical neglect) and in specific aspects of adversity in the family.

Adversidade na infância, características psicológicas e problemas de saúde física: comparação entre obesos e não obesos

INTRODUCAO: A literatura e unânime sobre a elevada morbilidade e mortalidade associada a obesidade, mas pouco consistente no que se refere as caracteristicas psicologicas dos obesos. OBJETIVO: O objetivo deste estudo e caracterizar as experiencias de vida e os problemas de saude fisica e mental de um grupo de obesos e compara-los com sujeitos nao obesos. METODO: Oitenta e um obesos e cem nao obesos foram avaliados quanto as experiencias adversas na infância, psicopatologia geral, dimensoes de personalidade, estilos de coping e problemas e queixas de saude. RESULTADOS: As experiencias de abuso emocional e de negligencia sao frequentemente relatadas, mas algumas experiencias de adversidade na infância sao pouco relatadas pelos obesos e nao obesos. Os obesos relatam mais queixas, problemas de saude fisica e menos coping, mas os nao obesos apresentam valores medios de psicopatologia superiores. Nas dimensoes de personalidade, nao se verifica qualquer diferenca entre os grupos. A psicopatologia geral, as estrategias de coping, as queixas de saude e os problemas de saude distinguem obesos de nao obesos. CONCLUSAO: Contrariamente ao que sugerem alguns estudos, os obesos nao relatam mais adversidade e relatam menos psicopatologia geral do que os nao obesos. No entanto, apresentam mais queixas e problemas de saude e usam estrategias de coping de forma diferente.