A NIMHANS study has recently found that temperamental traits and negative childhood experiences may cause psychiatric vulnerability, leading to disorders in adults. The researchers examined four broad dimensions of adult temperament along with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The research found that studying these aspects could offer identification of vulnerabilities to major psychiatric disorders in adulthood.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, examined 1,162 adults, including 532 people with psychiatric disorders. The rest included unaffected first-degree relatives and also healthy individuals. The participants had been selected from families where multiple members have been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders involving schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Four Dimensions of Temperament
The study involved examining four dimensions of adult temperament, including negative affectivity, extraversion, effortful control and orienting sensitivity, besides adverse experiences in childhood.
- Negative Self-Image: A person with negative affectivity usually has negative reactions to oneself and one’s surroundings. This personality trait is found in individuals who have low confidence, are introspective and often carry a negative image of themselves. Symptoms of this include rejection, higher levels of nervousness, tension, worry and anger than others.
- Seeking External Validation: Extraversion is the habit of seeking comfort from external surroundings and objects. Such individuals often feel comforted by helping others and are often energetic, sociable and grateful. They will often seek validation from actions and thoughts that are related to others rather than by feeling good doing something for themselves.
- Effective Controlled Response: Effortful Control is a trait where an individual can slow down their immediate reaction to situations. This is widely recognized to control stress by focusing attention and slowing down the reaction and response.
- Noticing The Small Things: Orienting Sensitivity is a temperament that focuses on subtle observation of the surroundings rather than focusing on negative observations caused by overload of the senses. It is the ability to notice everything within and outside without letting it trigger a negative response.
Inherited Family Temperaments
The NIMHANS research has found common factors in temperaments shared by family members who may not all show signs of psychiatric disorders. However, the study has not directly found evidence of genetic variants in the temperamental characteristics. The study did find evidence of shared temperaments among unaffected family members. People with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder possess lower extraversion and orienting sensitivity. Similar patterns were also observed in undiagnosed first-degree relatives. In simple words, family members of people with the disorders showed similar personality traits even though they themselves were not diagnosed with that disorder.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
ACEs are potentially traumatic events that occur during childhood and can carry long-lasting symptoms into adulthood. These experiences can strongly impact health and well-being. While they are common, some groups may experience them more severely. Environmental instability and lack of safety can also trigger such experiences. Some common forms of ACEs include
- Experiencing violence, abuse or neglect
- Witnessing abuse in the home or community
- A family member who has attempted or passed away from suicide
- Substance Use Problems
- Mental Health Problems
- Instability caused by parental separation
- Instability caused by a household member being in jail
Findings in NIMHANS Research
The study also explored whether ACEs changed the connection between temperament and psychiatric disorders. The study found evidence of such interactions only in Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) rather than all four disorders that had been studied. The researchers have stated that studying temperament along with childhood adversity can in the future provide a better understanding of psychiatric vulnerability.
Conclusion
As India slowly grapples with a rising Mental Health crisis, the NIMHANS research offers a deep understanding of familial and childhood factors as possible causes. If these aspects can be further researched, the findings can help prevent psychiatric disorders from worsening in adulthood. This would require awareness, better mental health frameworks and collaboration of experts, officials and parents. The findings of this NIMHANS study shed light on why it is important to provide a safe and stable ecosystem to children to prevent long-term symptoms of neglect and abuse.
References +
- https://www.cdc.gov/aces/about/index.html
- https://study.com/academy/lesson/extraversion-in-personality-definition-lesson-quiz.html
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/negative-affectivity
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/effortful-control
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886907002723
- https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/temperament-childhood-adversity-may-offer-clues-to-psychiatric-vulnerability-nimhans-study/article71532420.ece
