Study one is a meta-analysis of the relationship between childhood adversity and bipolar disorder. The results suggest that individuals with bipolar disorder are 2.63 times more likely to experience childhood adversity than non-clinical controls. This effect remained significant even when controlling for bias and when considering epidemiological and case control studies separately. Levels of adversity in bipolar disorder were comparable to those observed in samples diagnosed with unipolar depression and schizophrenia. In adversity subtype analysis, emotional abuse conveyed the greatest risk of bipolar disorder with an odds ratio of 4.04. The results suggest that childhood adversity, particularly emotional abuse, may play an important role in the development of bipolar disorder. This challenges the notion that bipolar disorder is solely the result of a genetic predisposition. Study two is cross-sectional research investigating the association between childhood adversity and social functioning across the continuum of psychosis, and possible mediators of this relationship (i.e. attachment style, theory of mind ability, clinical symptoms). Fifty-four clinical and 120 non-clinical participants completed self-report questionnaires, interviews and tasks of theory of mind ability. The author used multiple group structural equation modelling to fit mediation models, whilst allowing for differential relationships across the samples. In the final model, only depression mediated the relationship between childhood adversity and social functioning. Childhood adversity did not significantly predict theory of mind ability in this data. The results suggest that psychosocial interventions for improving social functioning should also target low mood, particularly in individuals with a history of childhood adversity. Taken together this thesis suggests that childhood adversity can have long-reaching and negative effects on individuals' mental well-being. The author explores the wider clinical, academic and theoretical implications, and potential limitations, of the research in paper three. This section also contains the author's reflections on the research process and a justification of key methodological and analytical decisions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:724638 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Palmier-Claus, Jasper |
| Contributors | Bucci, Sandra |
| Publisher | University of Manchester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/childhood-adversity-in-bipolar-disorder-and-psychosis(40707dae-c064-4da5-8b06-2d7f18ff5b14).html |
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