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Background: It is unclear if childhood trauma (CT) is an independent risk factor of adult chronic physical disorders or whether its impact is (also) due to underlying poorer mental health., Methods: Data were obtained from baseline measurements among 13,489 respondents of the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study-1 and -2, cohort studies of the Dutch general population aged 18-64 years. We used a childhood trauma questionnaire measuring emotional, psychological, physical or sexual trauma before the age of 16. Lifetime mood, anxiety and substance use disorders were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 1.1 and 3.0. A standard self-report checklist was used to assess a broad range of chronic physical disorders treated by a medical doctor in the previous 12 months., Results: Respondents with a history of CT (N = 4054) suffered significantly more often from digestive (OR: 1.89-2.95), musculoskeletal (OR: 1.21-1.75) and respiratory disorders (OR: 1.39-1.91) and migraine (OR: 1.42-1.66). We found indirect associations between CT and digestive, musculoskeletal and respiratory disorders through lifetime mood (54%, 52% and 48% respectively), anxiety (44%, 55% and 44% respectively) and substance use disorders (33%, 23% and 38% respectively). Mood (69%) and anxiety disorders (67%) also impacted the relationship with migraine., Conclusions: CT predicts the development of adult physical disorders, even after controlling for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. This association is substantially influenced by mental health disorders. Treatment programs for CT should include interventions aimed at enhancing both mental and physical health., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Depression is a prevalent psychiatric disorder with high personal and public health consequences, partly due to a high risk of recurrence. This longitudinal study examines personality traits, structural and subjective social support dimensions as predictors of first and recurrent episodes of depression in initially non-depressed subjects., Methods: Data were obtained from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). 1085 respondents without a current depression or anxiety diagnosis were included. 437 respondents had a prior history of depression, 648 did not. Personality dimensions were measured with the NEO-FFI, network size, partner-status, negative and positive emotional support were measured with the Close Person Questionnaire. Logistic regression analyses (unadjusted and adjusted for clinical variables and sociodemographic variables) examined whether these psychosocial variables predict a new episode of depression at two year follow up and whether this differed among persons with or without a history of depression., Results: In the unadjusted analyses high extraversion (OR:.93, 95% CI (.91-.96), P<.001), agreeableness (OR:.94, 95% CI (.90-.97), P<.001), conscientiousness (OR:.93, 95% CI (.90-.96), P<.001) and a larger network size (OR:.76, 95% CI (.64-.90), P=.001) significantly reduced the risk of a new episode of depression. Only neuroticism predicted a new episode of depression in both the unadjusted (OR:1.13, 95% CI (1.10-1.15), P<.001) and adjusted analyses (OR:1.06, 95% CI (1.03-1.10), P<.001). None of the predictors predicted first or recurrent episodes of depression differently., Limitations: we used a relatively short follow up period and broad personality dimensions., Conclusions: Neuroticism seems to predict both first and recurrent episodes of depression and may be suitable for screening for preventive interventions., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We investigated the validity of different subtypes of borderline personality organization (BPO) as assessed by theory-driven profiles of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Disorder (MMPI; Hathaway & McKinley, 1943 ) Dutch Short Form (DSFM; Eurelings-Bontekoe, Onnink, Williams, & Snellen, 2008 ) in a naturalistic follow-up study among 2,062 psychiatric outpatients who received 6 months of ambulatory treatment. Patients were assessed at intake (T1) and 6 months later (T2). At T2, both patients and therapists rated the level of improvement, using the Global Assessment of Improvement. Patients with the high-level BPO profile showed the largest increase in well-being and the largest decrease in severity of symptomatology, whereas severity of symptomatology and well-being of patients with psychotic BPO profiles did not change over time. Agreement between patients and therapists about improvement was good for the internalizing immature BPO and high-level BPO patients, but poor for the externalizing low-level BPO and narcissistic patients.

Background: The Major Depression Inventory (MDI) is a new, brief, self-report measure for depression based on the DSM-system, which allows clinicians to assess the presence of a depressive disorder according to the DSM-IV, but also to assess the severity of the depressive symptoms., Methods: We examined the sensitivity, specificity, and psychometric qualities of the MDI in a consecutive sample of 258 psychiatric outpatients. Of these patients, 120 had a mood disorder (70 major depression, 49 dysthymia). A total of 139 subjects had a comorbid axis-I diagnosis, and 91 subjects had a comorbid personality disorder., Results: Crohnbach's alpha of the MDI was a satisfactory 0.89, and the correlation between the MDI and the depression subscale of the SCL-90 was 0.79 (p < .001). Subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD) had a significantly higher MDI score than subjects with anxiety disorders (but no MDD), dysthymias, bipolar, psychotic, other neurotic disorders, and subjects with relational problems. In ROC analysis we found that the area under the curve was 0.68 for the MDI. A good cut-off point for the MDI seems to be 26, with a sensitivity of 0.66, and a specificity of 0.63. The indication of the presence of MDD based on the MDI had a moderate agreement with the diagnosis made by a psychiatrist (kappa: 0.26)., Conclusion: The MDI is an attractive, brief depression inventory, which seems to be a reliable tool for assessing depression in psychiatric outpatients.