A person-centred approach to modelling population experiences of trauma and mental illness

Abstract

Background: Exposure to traumatic events has been implicated in the onset and development of a range of psychiatric disorders. People can be exposed to multiple traumatic events and previous research suggests that traumatic experiences may cluster at the individual level.

Methods: This study aimed to examine the distribution of traumatic experiences in a large nationally representative sample using latent class analysis, and estimate the relationship between these classes and a number of demographic and clinical variables. Data from the National Comorbidity Survey was used.

Results: Four latent classes, each representative of a range of traumatic experiences were identified. The classes were labelled 'high risk' (class 1), 'exposure to non-sexual adult interpersonal/non-interpersonal trauma' (class 2), 'intermediate risk/sexual abuse' (class 3), and 'low risk' (class 4). Each of the latent classes was predicted by several of the demographic variables. In addition, membership of classes 1, 2, and 3 increased the risk of each of the clinical variables.

Conclusions: The findings have clinical implications for the assessment of trauma histories across a range of psychiatric diagnoses.