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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychological Therapy and Psychosomatics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1381105

Examining childhood experiences and personality functioning as potential predictors for the speed of recovery during psychotherapy of patients with anxiety disorders

Provisionally accepted
Nowak Jonathan Nowak Jonathan 1,2*Christoph Nikendei Christoph Nikendei 1,2Ivo Rollmann Ivo Rollmann 1,2Maximilian Orth Maximilian Orth 1,2Hans-Christoph Friederich Hans-Christoph Friederich 1,2David Kindermann David Kindermann 1,2
  • 1 Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
  • 2 DZPG (German Centre for Mental Health – Partner Site Heidelberg/ Mannheim/ Ulm), Heidelberg, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Adverse childhood experiences were previously identified as relevant risk factors for the development of anxiety disorders. Furthermore, anxiety disorders were shown to be associated with impairments of personality functioning. The objective of this study was to investigate adverse and protective childhood experiences as well as personality functioning, as defined by the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis system, as potential predictors for the speed of recovery during psychotherapy for patients with anxiety disorders. Method: The sample consisted of n = 312 completed psychotherapies. The speed of recovery, defined as symptom abatement over time, was calculated using a two-stage hierarchical linear model. The effects of adverse and protective childhood experiences as well as personality functioning on the speed of recovery during psychotherapy were then examined using a structural equation model.The presence of adverse childhood experiences predicted a lower speed of recovery during psychotherapy. In addition, a higher number of adverse childhood experiences was associated with greater impairments in the abilities of perception and regulation as dimensions of personality functioning. A higher number of protective childhood experiences was associated with fewer impairments in the communication and attachment dimensions. Impairments in personality functioning in patients with anxiety disorders did not predict the speed of recovery during psychotherapy. Conclusions: Among patients with anxiety disorders, adverse childhood experiences lead to a lower speed of recovery during psychotherapy. Therefore, childhood adversity should be routinely assessed before and thoroughly addressed during psychotherapy in patients with anxiety disorders.

    Keywords: Adverse childhood experiences, protective childhood experiences, Anxiety Disorders, Personality functioning, Psychotherapy, recovery. 2

    Received: 02 Feb 2024; Accepted: 16 Apr 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jonathan, Nikendei, Rollmann, Orth, Friederich and Kindermann. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Nowak Jonathan, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany

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