Online Emotional Response to Completing a Childhood Maltreatment Self-report Scale

Summary

Childhood adversity in the form of maltreatment and household dysfunction is the most important risk factor for psychopathology as well as a major risk factor for a host of medical disorders. It has been estimated that adverse childhood experiences account for 45%, 50%, 64% and 67% of the population attributable risk for childhood onset psychiatric disorders, alcoholism, depression, substance abuse and suicide attempts. There is also increasing evidence that maltreated and non-maltreated individuals with the same primary psychiatric diagnosis are clinically and neurobiologically distinct and respond differently to treatment. The investigators and others have proposed that assessment of exposure to maltreatment is imperative for prevention, targeted treatment and research. A potential barrier to the widespread collection of data regarding early life stress and childhood maltreatment is the concern that asking such probing questions, particularly on an online questionnaire, may provoke untoward reactions and create clinical problems.

Therefore, the investigators have designed this observational study to test our hypothesis that answering questions about type and timing of childhood maltreatment are no more stressful than answering standardized mathematical and verbal questions, of the type asked on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

The study will include representative national samples (by age, sex, and ethnicity) from the United States (total N=500, Ages 18-65) and will be conducted online via Prolific™, which maintains a pool of research participants.

Participants will be assigned randomly to one of two test sequences.

* In sequence 1, the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE) scale will be presented toward the beginning of the session and the Math/Verbal Test toward the end.
* In sequence 2, the order will be reversed.

The impact of completing the MACE and standardized IQ questions will be assessed before and after each module, using the abbreviated form of the Profile of Mood States (POMS).

Conditions

• Stress, Psychological
• Stress, Emotional

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure Scale as a stress challenge

The first group (N=250) will receive the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE) scale first, to assess early life adversity, followed by the standardized test questions. A POMS will be administered before each challenge.

BEHAVIORAL

Standardized Maths and Verbal Questions such as the ones used in SATs

The second group (N=250) will be presented with the standardized test questions (Math/Verbal) to assess their stress level, measured through POMS, followed by the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE) scale.

BEHAVIORAL

Chronology of Perceived Discrimination Scale (CPDS)

The group will also receive the Chronology of Perceived Discrimination Scale (CPDS) to assess type and timing of perceived discrimination during the first 18 years of life. A POMS will be administered before and after the intervention/challenge.

BEHAVIORAL

International Personality Item Pool (IPIP-NEO)

Participants in both groups will be presented with the abbreviated version of the IPIP-NEO a personality questionnaire that provides ratings on the Five Factor Personality Model. The research team sees this task as non-stressful and even potentially soothing and envisions that it will help to restore an individual's mood before taking the next stressful test and again at the completion of the online session.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Mclean Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Martin H Teicher, MD,PhD · Mclean Hospital

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-10-15

Primary Completion

2023-12-15

Completion

2023-12-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations