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Trial Lecture – time and place
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Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Karestan Koenen, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, US
- Second opponent: Professor Lars Wichstrøm, NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor II Jan Ivar Røssberg, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Associate Professor Espen Saxhaug Kristoffersen, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Head of Section, Senior Researcher Synne Øien Stensland, NKVTS - Norwegian centre for violence and traumatic stress studies
Summary
Psychiatric disorders and substance misuse constitute two of the biggest health challenges among children and young people. To be able to effectively prevent and treat them, knowledge about risk factors is needed, and youth who have experienced childhood trauma are increasingly being recognized as a vulnerable subgroup within this context.
The first aim of the thesis was to explore the scope of prescription analgesics, anxiolytics and hypnotics, problematic alcohol use, and psychiatric disorders (including substance use disorders) in younger age groups. The second aim was to investigate whether childhood trauma ought to be considered a potent risk factor for psychopathology.
Data from a large, population-based sample of Norwegian children, adolescents, and young adults covering the last 17 years (2004-2021) were used, based on the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD), and the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR).
The prevalence of use of prescription analgesics and hypnotics was found to increase over time. Use of prescription opioids, gabapentinoids, and paracetamol increased in adolescents and young adults aged 15 years and older, and use of prescription hypnotics, especially melatonin, increased in children from age 5.
About 1 in 8 young adults reported engaging in problematic alcohol use, and a substantial amount of the participants sought help through specialist healthcare services for psychiatric disorders throughout adolescence and young adulthood.
Childhood trauma was significantly associated with development of both individual psychiatric disorders and psychiatric comorbidity. With regards to trauma types, exposure to one or more types of direct interpersonal violence (physical violence, sexual abuse, and bullying), was especially associated with an increased risk.
Childhood trauma is a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychiatric disorders and psychiatric comorbidity, which could help inform prevention and treatment initiatives.
Additional information
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