Role of childhood trauma in psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: a report from China.

Background: To investigate the prevalence, risk factors, and impacts of childhood trauma in Chinese patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) compared to the healthy population.

Methods: Patients with PNES and sex- and age-matched healthy controls were recruited. All the participants were interviewed to collect demographics, information of childhood environment, and clinical characteristics. Each participant completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), and the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). Factors associated with childhood trauma, psychiatric symptoms, and clinical features of PNES were analyzed.

Results: A total of 35 PNES patients and 34 controls were included in this study. Compared with the controls, the PNES patients reported a higher rate of childhood trauma and more severe psychiatric symptoms. In the PNES patients, early separation from parents was related to more types of childhood trauma and emotional neglect (EN); older age and rural residence during childhood were related to sexual abuse (SA). Moreover, childhood SA and trauma accumulation were correlated with the present psychiatric symptoms. Childhood trauma and rural residence were associated with dissociative symptoms. Separation from parents predicted an earlier PNES onset, whereas childhood SA predicted a later onset. More severe dissociative symptoms were associated with higher seizure frequency.

Conclusions: Childhood trauma is related to the development of PNES and the compromised mental health in PNES patients. This highlights the importance of child protection for preventing psychiatric disorders such as PNES.