Background: 22q11 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) is the most common microdeletion syndrome with broad phenotypic variability, leading to significant morbidity and some mortality. The varied health problems associated with 22q11DS and the evolving phenotype (both medical and developmental/behavioural) across the lifespan can strongly impact the mental health of patients as well as their caregivers. Like caregivers of children with other chronic diseases, caregivers of children with 22q11DS may experience an increased risk of traumatisation and mental health symptoms.

A central goal in the field of developmental psychopathology is to evaluate the complex, dynamic transactions occurring among biological, psychological, and broader social-cultural contexts that predict adaptive and maladaptive outcomes across ontogeny. Here, I briefly review research on the effects of a history of childhood maltreatment on parental, child, and dyadic functioning, along with more recent studies on the intergenerational transmission of trauma.

Background

Robust evidence suggests that individuals exposed to childhood trauma are more vulnerable to suffering from later depression. However, the pathway connecting the experience of childhood trauma and depression remains unclear.

Participants and settings

Background: While several studies documented a positive correlation between childhood maltreatment severity and dissociation severity, it is currently unknown whether specific dissociative symptoms cluster together among individuals with childhood trauma histories ranging from none to severe.

Objective: We aimed to explore symptom constellations across the whole spectrum of dissociative processing from patients with severe dissociative disorders to healthy controls and relate these to maltreatment severity and sociodemographic characteristics.