Epidemiology of childhood trauma and its association with insomnia and psychotic-like experiences in Chinese Zhuang adolescents

Qiaoyue Wei; Yuli Pan; Shengjie Zhang; Wenwen Yin; Qinghong Lin; Shuibo Pan; Chenyangzi Dai; Linhua Zhou; Junduan Wu

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.974674

Epidemiology of childhood trauma and its association with insomnia and psychotic-like experiences in Chinese Zhuang adolescents

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Aug 22:13:974674. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.974674. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Qiaoyue Wei¹, Yuli Pan², Shengjie Zhang³, Wenwen Yin¹, Qinghong Lin¹, Shuibo Pan¹, Chenyangzi Dai¹, Linhua Zhou¹, Junduan Wu^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
² Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanning, China.
³ Department of Graduate Management, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital, Nanning, China.
⁴ Department of Psychology, School of Medicine, Guangxi Medical College, Nanning, China.

Abstract

Background: Adolescents who have experienced childhood trauma are more likely to have insomnia and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) than adolescents from other ethnic groups. However, little is known about the youth of ethnic minorities. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of childhood trauma and its relationship with insomnia and PLEs in Chinese Zhuang adolescents, focusing on the role of a specific type of trauma and accumulation.

Methods: A questionnaire of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), and Chinese Version Community assessment psychic experiences-8 (CCAPE- 8) were all completed by 1,493 Chinese Zhuang adolescents. Chi-square and multivariate logistic regression analyses examined the association between childhood trauma and insomnia/PLEs.

Results: The incidences of emotional abuse (EA), physical abuse (PA), sexual abuse (SA), emotional neglect (EN), and physical neglect (PN) occurred at rates of 5.63, 5.02, 6.56, 23.98, and 33.15%, respectively. EA, SA, EN, and PN were all positively related to insomnia (OR: 1.314-7.720, all p < 0.05). EA and SA were positively associated with PLEs (OR: 2.131-3.202, all p < 0.001). Adolescents who had experienced three or more types of traumas were more likely to have insomnia (OR = 6.961, p < 0.001) and PLEs (OR = 3.558, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The most common type of childhood trauma is PN. Childhood trauma has the primary effect on insomnia/PLE. A significant dose-response relationship was found between Childhood trauma and insomnia/ PLEs. This association varied depending on the type and accumulation of exposure.

Keywords: adolescents; association; childhood trauma; epidemiology; ethnic minorities; insomnia; psychotic-like experiences.