Differential effects of recent versus past traumas on mood, social support, binge drinking, emotional eating and BMI, and on neural responses to acute stress

Abstract

Traumatic stress is associated with risk of psychiatric and physical illnesses. However, the differential and separable effects of past versus recent traumas on maladaptive coping and neural responses are not known. We conducted two studies to assess separate and combined effects of cumulative recent and past trauma on health outcomes (study 1) and on neural responses to acute stress exposure in a subsample of individuals (study 2). Study 1 assessed a large cohort of 677 community adults cross-sectionally, and findings indicated that both high recent (within the last 12 months) and past trauma (prior to the last twelve months) were associated with more physical and psychological symptoms, including increased depression (all p’s