OBJECTIVE Childhood auditory vocal hallucinations (AVH) are mostly transient but may predict clinical outcomes. Little is known about their course over time and associations with risk factors, and how this may inform early intervention. Our objective was to assess the 11-year course of AVH, associated psychopathology and risk factors. METHOD A 5-year (T1) and 11-year (T2) follow-up of a basel...

CONTEXT Prospective data on standardized measures of early predispositions would allow a strong test of hypotheses about suspected risk factors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and exposure to traumatic events. OBJECTIVE To prospectively examine the extent to which intelligence, anxiety disorders, and conduct problems in childhood influence the risk for PTSD and for exposure to traumat...

Recent geopolitical events, including the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and ongoing military operations in Iraq, have raised awareness of the often severe psychological after-effects of these and other types of traumatic events. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) represents the most severe of these sequelae. PTSD is an under-recognized and under-treated chroni...

BACKGROUND Overgeneral autobiographical memory has repeatedly been identified as a risk factor for adolescent and adult psychopathology but the factors that cause such over-generality remain unclear. This study examined the association between childhood exposure to traumatic events and early adolescent overgeneral autobiographical memory in a large population sample. METHODS Thirteen-year-old...

Children aged birth to five years are exposed to a disproportionately increased amount of potentially traumatic events compared to older children. This review examines the prevalence of traumatic exposure in the birth-to-five age range, the indicators and diagnostic criteria of early traumatic stress, and the contextual issues associated with the experience of early trauma. The article also sel...

Background: Chronic diseases affect the lives of the patient and caregiver. Caring for a patient with a chronic psychiatric illness, such as bipolar disorder, is a stressful and challenging activity. Caregivers of severe psychiatric patients are the primary victims of violence by patients. Caring for these patients can be very stressful for the caregiver to the extent of experiencing post-traum...