Child abuse, depression, and methylation in genes involved with stress, neural plasticity, and brain circuitry.

Objectives: To determine whether epigenetic markers predict dimensional ratings of depression in maltreated children.

Method: A genome-wide methylation study was completed using the Illumina 450K BeadChip array in 94 maltreated and 96 healthy nontraumatized children with saliva-derived DNA. The 450K BeadChip does not include any methylation sites in the exact location as sites in candidate genes previously examined in the literature, so a test for replication of prior research findings was not feasible.

Posttraumatic stress disorder: the missed diagnosis.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is frequently underdiagnosed in maltreated samples. Protective services information is critical for obtaining complete trauma histories and determining whether to survey PTSD symptoms in maltreated children. In the current study, without protective services information to supplement parent and child report, diagnosing PTSD was missed in a significant proportion of the cases.

Genetic and environmental predictors of early alcohol use.

Background: The goal of the current investigation was to examine genetic and environmental predictors of early alcohol use, a potent predictor of later alcohol dependence.

Methods: This study represents an add-on project to an investigation examining the efficacy of an intervention for maltreated children entering out-of-home care. Predictors of early alcohol use include the following: maltreatment, family loading for alcohol or substance-use disorders, and serotonin transporter genotype (5-HTTLPR; locus SLC6A4).

Differential relationships of childhood abuse and neglect subtypes to PTSD symptom clusters among adolescent inpatients.

This article investigates whether childhood abuse and neglect subtypes (i.e., physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and physical and emotional neglect) differentially predict the severity of individual posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters and overall posttraumatic stress.

Prevalence of dissociative disorders in psychiatric outpatients.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of DSM-IV dissociative disorders in an inner-city outpatient psychiatric population.

Method: Subjects were 231 consecutive admissions (84 men and 147 women, mean age=37 years) to an inner-city, hospital-based outpatient psychiatric clinic. The subjects completed self-report measures of dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale) and trauma history (Traumatic Experiences Questionnaire).

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor-5-HTTLPR gene interactions and environmental modifiers of depression in children.

Background: Child abuse and genotype interact to contribute to risk for depression in children. This study examined gene-by-gene and gene-by-environment interactions.

Methods: The study included 196 children: 109 maltreated and 87 nonmaltreated comparison subjects.

Baseline and modulated acoustic startle responses in adolescent girls with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Objective: To assess baseline and modulated acoustic startle responses in adolescent girls with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Method: Twenty-eight adolescent girls with PTSD and 23 healthy control girls were recruited for participation in the study. Acoustic stimuli were bursts of white noise of 104 dB presented biaurally through headphones.

Smaller head of the hippocampus in Gulf War-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

Reductions in hippocampal volume and impairment in short-term verbal memory have been reported in Vietnam combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and in women with abuse-related PTSD. The present investigation evaluated hippocampal volume and memory in Gulf War veterans. This research is timely given the ongoing war in Iraq and the anticipated high rates of PTSD among returning combat soldiers.

A comparison of adolescent inpatients with and without a history of violence perpetration: impulsivity, PTSD, and violence risk.

How childhood maltreatment and violence victimization contributes to subsequent violent behavior remains an understudied area. We examined 130 psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents and compared those with a history of perpetrating violence to those without a history of violence perpetration. Perpetrators of physical violence were significantly more likely to have been a victim and/or witness to family and community violence and also reported significantly higher levels of a broad range of psychopathology than nonperpetrators.

Absence of behavioral sensitization in healthy human subjects following repeated exposure to ketamine.

Rationale: Sensitization to the effects of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor antagonists is robust in animals. However, the applicability of this model to humans is unclear because it currently rests on highly confounded retrospective studies of individuals who experienced protracted psychoses following repeated binges with NMDA receptor antagonists.

Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to determine whether there was evidence of sensitization to the behavioral effects of ketamine in healthy human subjects with repeated exposure to this drug.

Social supports and serotonin transporter gene moderate depression in maltreated children.

In this study, measures of the quality and availability of social supports were found to moderate risk for depression associated with a history of maltreatment and the presence of the short (s) allele of the serotonin transporter gene promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR). The present investigation (i) replicates research in adults showing that 5-HTTLPR variation moderates the development of depression after stress, (ii) extends the finding to children, and (iii) demonstrates the ability of social supports to further moderate risk for depression. Maltreated children with the s/s genotype and no positive supports had the highest depression ratings, scores that were twice as high as the non-maltreated comparison children with the same genotype.

An increased capacity for adrenal DHEA release is associated with decreased avoidance and negative mood symptoms in women with PTSD.

We recently found increased adrenal cortisol responses to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)1-24 and increased pituitary ACTH and adrenal cortisol responses to corticotropin-releasing factor in premenopausal women with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to healthy nontraumatized subjects. This pattern of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) hyper-reactivity has been previously seen in healthy individuals treated with the antiglucocorticoid mifepristone. We therefore investigated whether endogenous plasma levels of antiglucocorticoids such as dehydroepiandrosteroine (DHEA) and progesterone were increased in premenopausal women with PTSD at baseline or in response to adrenal activation by ACTH1-24.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use in inner-city adolescent girls.

The purpose of this study is to examine rates of nicotine, marijuana, and alcohol use as well as patterns of problematic substance use and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in inner-city adolescent girls. One hundred four adolescents who obtained medical care at a hospital-based adolescent clinic were systematically surveyed for trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and substance use. A subset (N = 54, 52%) of girls completed a semistructured psychiatric diagnostic interview (K-SADS-PL) to ascertain timing of PTSD symptoms relative to substance use.

Salivary cortisol responses to dexamethasone in adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Objective: Previous studies of adults with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have found various abnormalities in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, including enhanced suppression of cortisol following low-dose dexamethasone. The purpose of the present study was to investigate salivary cortisol responses to low-dose dexamethasone in adolescents with PTSD.

Method: Forty-eight adolescents (20 with current PTSD, 9 trauma controls without PTSD, and 19 healthy nontraumatized controls) were enrolled in the study.