Gelaye B, et al. – Here, researchers examine the construct validity of the 9 item Traumatic Events Questionnaire (TEQ) and aim to assess the extent to which experiences of trauma evaluated utilizing the TEQ are related to symptoms of psychiatric disorders among 3342 pregnant women in Lima, Peru. Given the high burden of trauma experiences and the enduring adverse consequences on maternal and child health, there is an urgent requirement for integrating evidence–based trauma informed care programs in obstetrical practices serving Peruvian patients.

Methods

• Symptoms of depression were evaluated utilizing the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (PHQ–9) and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) while the PTSD Checklist–civilian (PCL–C) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder–7 (GAD–7) were utilized to evaluate symptoms of PTSD and generalized anxiety.
• Hierarchical logistic regression procedures were utilized to assess relations between TEQ and symptoms of psychiatric disorders.

Results

• They observed that the majority of participants (87.8%) experienced at least one traumatic event (mean = 2.5 events).
• In this study, the trauma occurrence score was moderately correlated with symptoms of PTSD (PCL–C: rho = 0.38, P–value < 0.0001), depression (EPDS: rho = 0.31, P–value < 0.0001; PHQ–9: rho = 0.20, P–value < 0.0001), and GAD (GAD–7: rho = 0.29, P–value < 0.0001).
• Stronger correlations were found between the trauma intensity score with symptoms of psychiatric disorders (PCL–C: rho = 0.49, P–value < 0.0001; EPDS: rho = 0.36, P–value < 0.0001; PHQ–9: rho = 0.31, P–value < 0.0001; GAD–7: rho = 0.39, P–value < 0.0001).