The relationship between childhood exposure to trauma and intermittent explosive disorder

Abstract

There has been a paucity of research linking intermittent explosive disorder (IED) to trauma and posttraumatic stress responses, despite evidence that trauma is strongly associated with anger reactions. The present study investigated the relationship between IED and a number of trauma-related factors, including trauma dosage, timing of first trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants were 4844 trauma-exposed and 731 non trauma-exposed adults who took part in the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R). Findings indicated that IED was associated with greater trauma exposure, PTSD and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) diagnosis, and first exposure to traumatic events in childhood. Exploratory analyses investigating the link between IED and age at first trauma exposure across trauma types suggested that IED is related to childhood exposure to interpersonal traumatic events. These findings are discussed in the context of developmental trauma and cycles of violence models.