The Ring of Fire: Childhood Trauma, Emotional Reactivity, and Mixed States in Mood Disorders

Delfina Janiri; Georgios D Kotzalidis; Lavinia De Chiara; Alexia Emilia Koukopoulos; Monica Aas; Gabriele Sani

doi:10.1016/j.psc.2019.10.007

The Ring of Fire: Childhood Trauma, Emotional Reactivity, and Mixed States in Mood Disorders

Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2020 Mar;43(1):69-82. doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2019.10.007. Epub 2019 Nov 28.

Authors

Delfina Janiri¹, Georgios D Kotzalidis², Lavinia De Chiara³, Alexia Emilia Koukopoulos⁴, Monica Aas⁵, Gabriele Sani⁶

Affiliations

¹ Sapienza School of Medicine and Psychology, Sant'Andrea University Hospital, UOC Psichiatria, Via di Grottarossa, 1035-1039, Rome 00189, Italy; ICAHN School of Medicine and Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Centro Lucio Bini, Via Crescenzio 42, Rome 00193, Italy.
² Centro Lucio Bini, Via Crescenzio 42, Rome 00193, Italy; School of Medicine and Psychology, NESMOS Department (Neuroscience, Mental Health and Sensory Organs) Sapienza University, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Via di Grottarossa 1035-1038, Rome 00189, Italy. Electronic address: giorgio.kotzalidis@uniroma1.it.
³ Centro Lucio Bini, Via Crescenzio 42, Rome 00193, Italy; School of Medicine and Psychology, NESMOS Department (Neuroscience, Mental Health and Sensory Organs) Sapienza University, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Via di Grottarossa 1035-1038, Rome 00189, Italy.
⁴ Centro Lucio Bini, Via Crescenzio 42, Rome 00193, Italy; Department of Human Neurosciences, University of Rome "Sapienza", Viale dell'Università 30, Roma 00185, Italy.
⁵ NORMENT K.G Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo University Hospital, Bygg 49, Ullevål Sykehus, PO Box 4956, Nydalen, Oslo 0424, Norway.
⁶ Institute of Psychiatry, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy; Department of Psychiatry, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, Italy.

PMID: 32008689
DOI: 10.1016/j.psc.2019.10.007

Abstract

Childhood trauma (CT) is strongly associated with bipolar disorder, possibly through emotional hyperreactivity (EH). Mixed symptoms/states (MSs) are associated with increased illness severity. The authors tested through a systematic review the association between CT and MSs. The authors systematically looked for studies exploring associations between MSs and CT, CT and EH, and EH and MSs. Most literature agrees that MSs are associated with CT; the latter was found to be associated to EH, which is in turn associated with MSs. The literature supports an association between CT and later development of MSs, possibly mediated through EH.

Keywords: Affective lability; Bipolar disorders; Childhood trauma; Depression; Emotional reactivity; Emotional regulation; Mixed states; Mood disorders.

Publication types

Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Adverse Childhood Experiences*
Aged
Bipolar Disorder / psychology
Child
Depression / psychology
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Emotions*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Mood Disorders / psychology*
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Young Adult