The Effects of Trauma Type, Age of Onset, and Sex on Transdiagnostic Psychopathological Traits

Trauma is risk factor for multiple psychiatric diagnoses, but whether this transdiagnostic effect occurs because trauma influences levels of underlying maladaptive traits that give rise to clinical symptoms is unclear. Moreover, whether the psychological effects of trauma are moderated by critical factors such as trauma type, dose, survivor sex, and age of trauma, has seldom been comprehensively explored. Here, we examined the effects of sexual and interpersonal violence trauma on five core dimensions of trait-level psychopathology derived empirically from a transdiagnostic battery acquired in 842 community-dwelling adults with diverse mental health histories (37.89% male; M Age=29.73, SD Age=7.77). We found that a single instance of sexual trauma was robustly associated with both Negative Affectivity and Antisocial Schizotypy dimensions and was sufficient to attenuate pre-existing sex differences in the expression of these trait dimensions. Age of onset, nor cumulative exposure, influenced trait severity. In contrast, interpersonal physical violence exerted a dose-response effect on Antisocial Schizotypy, particularly in males. A single exposure to interpersonal physical violence was associated with elevated Negative Affectivity and Antisocial Schizotypy when first experienced before ages 16 and 25, respectively. Females showed greater susceptibility to age of onset effects for Negative Affectivity than males. These findings indicate that trauma influences specific, transdiagnostic domains of psychopathology, potentially driving the emergence of diverse symptom profiles that meet criteria for different diagnoses. Critically, these effects vary by trauma type, sex, and age, underscoring the need for a personalized approach to trauma-informed research and care.