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. 2024 Dec:8:100082.
doi: 10.1016/j.xjmad.2024.100082. Epub 2024 Aug 29.

A systematic review on the bidirectional relationship between trauma-related psychopathology and reproductive aging

Amanda R Arnold  1 , Trinidi Prochaska  1 , Maximilian Fickenwirth  1 , Abigail Powers  1 , Alicia K Smith  2 , E Britton Chahine  2 , Jennifer S Stevens  1 , Vasiliki Michopoulos  1   2
Affiliations

A systematic review on the bidirectional relationship between trauma-related psychopathology and reproductive aging

Amanda R Arnold et al. J Mood Anxiety Disord. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: Natural variation in ovarian steroid hormones across the female lifespan contributes to an increased risk for depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in women. However, minimal work has focused on understanding the impacts of reproductive aging on the brain and behavioral health of trauma-exposed women. This systematic review examines the bidirectional relationship between trauma-related psychopathology and reproductive aging.

Method: Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review of PubMed, PsychInfo, and Medline databases was undertaken to identify controlled studies on how trauma history impacts psychopathology and menopause symptoms during reproductive aging.

Results: Twenty-one studies met the eligibility criteria, with only four utilizing the gold standard STRAW+ 10 criteria for defining reproductive aging stages. The peri and postmenopausal periods appear to be particularly vulnerable phases for individuals with trauma exposure. Menopause symptoms and trauma-related psychopathology symptom severity increase during reproductive aging with increases in the degree of trauma exposure. However, mechanistic insights that may explain this interaction are currently neglected in this area of research.

Conclusion: There is a significant lack of understanding regarding how reproductive aging and its related neuroendocrine changes impact the brain to influence PTSD and depression symptoms related to trauma exposure. This lack of basic understanding impedes the ability to identify, assess, and treat PTSD and depressive symptoms in trauma-exposed women most effectively, and mitigate the long-term consequences of these behavioral health symptoms on morbidity and mortality in aging women.

Keywords: Depression; Menopause; PTSD; Trauma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Summary of literature search
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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