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Linking Trauma to Mental Health in the Statewide Texas Youth Depression and Suicide Research Network

Research Publication Document

  • List Description

    Goodman, L. C., Elmore, J. S., Mayes, T. L., Minhajuddin, A., Slater, H., Blader, J. C., Liberzon, I., Baronia, R. B., Bivins, E. J., LaGrone, J. M., Jackson, S., Martin, S. L., Brown, R., Soares, J. C., Wakefield, S. M., & Trivedi, M. H. (2024). Linking trauma to mental health in the statewide Texas Youth Depression and Suicide Research Network (TX-YDSRN). Psychiatry Research, 331, 115620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115620

  • Offsite Link

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115620
    Link

Youth in the US experience trauma events at high rates, and many report experiencing more than one type of adverse childhood event before they turn 18. Exposure to these traumatic experiences is known to be linked to adverse mental and physical health outcomes. This study investigated the nature of the relationship between trauma exposure and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. To study the dose-response nature of traumatic experiences, the sample was divided into four groups: No Traumatic Exposure Categories (No TEC), 1 TEC, 2-3 TEC, and 4 or more TEC. Using PHQ-A to measure depression and GAD-7 to measure anxiety, the investigators found that the depression scores were lower in the No TEC group than in the 2-3 TEC and the ≥4 TEC groups, with cis-gendered participants having significantly lower scores than their trans/non-binary counterparts. Similarly, significantly lower anxiety scores were found in the No TEC group compared to the other groups. In the role of suicidality, measured by CHRT-SR, only specific trauma types were significantly different from the no-trauma group, suggesting that these trauma types may be unique predictors of suicidal risk. It is important to continue investigating the role of trauma in suicidal youth to potentially develop new treatment protocols.

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