Subjective and objective experiences of childhood adversity: a meta-analysis of their agreement and relationships with psychopathology.

Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0375361 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1469-7610 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00219630 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Child Psychol Psychiatry Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 2002- : Oxford : Blackwell Publishers
Original Publication: Oxford ; New York : Pergamon Press

Adverse Childhood Experiences* ; Mental Disorders*/epidemiology ; Mental Disorders*/etiology ; Mental Disorders*/psychology; Humans ; Psychopathology ; Self Report

Background: Researchers use both subjective self-report and objective measures, such as official records, to investigate the impact of childhood adversity on psychopathology. However, it is unclear whether subjective and objective measures of childhood adversity (a) show agreement, and (b) differentially predict psychopathology.
Method: To address this, we conducted a pre-registered meta-analysis to examine the agreement between subjective and objective measures of childhood adversity, and their prediction of psychopathology. We searched in PubMed, PsycINFO and Embase for articles with both subjective measures (self-reports) and objective measures of childhood adversity (comprising official records, or reports from multiple informants unrelated to the target individual), and measures of psychopathology.
Results: We identified 22 studies (n = 18,163) with data on agreement between subjective and objective measures of childhood adversities, and 17 studies (n = 14,789) with data on the associations between subjective and objective measures with psychopathology. First, we found that subjective and objective measures of childhood adversities were only moderately correlated (e.g. for maltreatment, r = .32, 95% CI = 0.23-0.41). Second, subjective measures of childhood adversities were associated with psychopathology, independent of objective measures (e.g. for maltreatment, r = .16, 95% CI = 0.09-0.22). In contrast, objective measures of childhood adversities had null or minimal associations with psychopathology, independent of subjective measures (e.g. r for maltreatment = .06, 95% CI = -0.02-0.13).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the effects of childhood adversity on psychopathology are primarily driven by a person's subjective experience. If this is the case, clinical interventions targeting memories and cognitive processes surrounding childhood adversity may reduce the risk of psychopathology in exposed individuals.
(© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

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United Kingdom BB_ Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; MRF_MRF-160-0002-ELP-PINGA United Kingdom MRF MRF; United Kingdom WT_ Wellcome Trust; MR/N013867/1 United Kingdom MRC_ Medical Research Council; 215917/Z/19/Z United Kingdom WT_ Wellcome Trust

Keywords: Childhood adversity; meta-analysis; objective measures; psychopathology; subjective measures

Date Created: 20230515 Date Completed: 20230707 Latest Revision: 20240214

20240214

PMC10617978

10.1111/jcpp.13803

37186463