Associations between childhood trauma, depression, anxiety disorders and early arthritis presence

Ana Konjikusic; Sarah Ohrndorf; Tanja Braun; Vivien Kluckow; Vera Höhne-Zimmer; Gabriela Schmittat; Christine Heim; Ralf Uebelhack; Kirsten Minden; Jacqueline Detert; Gerd-Rüdiger Burmester; Desiree Schaumburg

doi:10.3389/fmed.2025.1582075

Associations between childhood trauma, depression, anxiety disorders and early arthritis presence

Front Med (Lausanne). 2025 Aug 5:12:1582075. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1582075. eCollection 2025.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Charitéplatz, Germany.
² Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Medical Psychology, Berlin, Charitéplatz, Germany.
³ NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Charitéplatz, Germany.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Charitéplatz, Germany.
⁵ Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum Berlin, Epidemiology Unit, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Charitéplatz, Germany.
⁶ Department of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, Immunology and Critical Care Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Charitéplatz, Germany.
⁷ Rheumatologisch-immunologische Praxis Templin, Templin, Germany.

Abstract

Objective: To compare the prevalence of childhood trauma, depression, and anxiety disorders between patients with early arthritis (EA) and a control group (CG). We further aimed to explore the influence of these variables on EA diagnosis.

Methods and materials: This monocentric study included 60 prospectively recruited EA patients with at least one inflammatory joint with a symptom duration of 1-12 months. The CG consisted of 60 individuals with no clinical signs of arthritis. The participants underwent a semi-structured interview screening for psychiatric disorders and completed standardized questionnaires, including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A, HADS-D), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS). For statistical analysis, we used SPPS© χ² test, T-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, and binominal regression analysis.

Results: Compared to the CG, patients with EA had significantly higher rates of depression in the interview (41.7% vs. 16.7%; p = 0.03) and PTSD (13.3% vs. 3.3%; p = 0.048), and significantly higher HADS-D and CTQ childhood sexual abuse mean scores (HADS-D: 5.40 ± 4.80 vs. 3.60 ± 3.30; p = 0.047; CTQ sexual abuse: 5.91 ± 2.68 vs. 5.15 ± 1.02; p = 0.042). Binomial regression analysis revealed higher odds ratios for EA for CTQ emotional neglect (p = 0.048, OR = 1.12), CTQ sexual abuse (p = 0.040, OR = 1.4), HADS-D (p = 0.025, OR = 1.12), and lifetime depression (p = 0.040, OR = 4.00).

Conclusion: The high rates of depression and PTSD in EA emphasize a potential link between psychiatric disorders and arthritis. The presence of EA might be associated with present and lifetime depressive symptoms, childhood sexual abuse and emotional neglect.

Keywords: PTSD - posttraumatic stress disorder; anxiety; childhood trauma; depression; early arthritis (EA).