Childhood traumatic experiences, alexithymia, and resilience in patients with adjustment disorder

Abstract

Aims: Although adjustment disorder is a common disorder and causes a loss of function, there are limited studies about it. This study aimed to determine the level of childhood traumatic experiences, alexithymia, and resilience in patients with adjustment disorder. Methods: This was a case-control study. The study sample consisted of 110 healthy individuals (control group) and 158 patients with adjustment disorder (case group) treated in the psychiatric department of a university hospital in Turkey. The Childhood Traumatic Experience Scale (CTES), Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), and Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) were used to collect the data for this study. Results: In this study, the CTES and TAS-20 total mean scores of the case group were found to be higher than the control group, and the RSA total mean score of the case group was found to be lower than the control group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Consequently, the traumatic childhood experiences of the case group were excessive; their alexithymia levels were high, and their resilience levels were low. Investigating childhood traumatic experiences, alexithymia, and resilience are considered to be significant in the selection of therapy and education programs in patients with adjustment disorder. © Gülhane Faculty of Medicine 2018.