Sensory modulation difficulties and complex PTSD among child abuse survivors
Background: Child abuse (CA) has diverse long-term negative outcomes, including trauma-related disorders such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). Evidence suggests that CA may also result in sensory modulation dysfunction, which is related to po...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2512672 |
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| author | Nitzan Avigail Kidra Lee Gafter Tami Bar-Shalita Yael Lahav |
| author_facet | Nitzan Avigail Kidra Lee Gafter Tami Bar-Shalita Yael Lahav |
| author_sort | Nitzan Avigail Kidra |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Child abuse (CA) has diverse long-term negative outcomes, including trauma-related disorders such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). Evidence suggests that CA may also result in sensory modulation dysfunction, which is related to posttraumatic distress. However, previous research has primarily explored the relationship between sensory modulation and PTSD, without examining the role of sensory modulation in both PTSD and CPTSD.Objective: This study aimed to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring (1) sensory modulation response patterns as a function of a history of CA; (2) the relationships between sensory modulation, PTSD, and disturbances in self-organization (DSO) in CA survivors; and (3) The role of sensory modulation response patterns in the likelihood of being diagnosed with PTSD or CPTSD.Method: An online survey was conducted among a convenience sample of Israeli female adults (n = 426), including 288 (67.6%) CA survivors and 138 (32.4%) participants without a history of CA. Background variables, abuse features, sensory modulation, and PTSD and CPTSD symptoms were assessed via self-report measures.Results: CA survivors exhibited higher scores for high sensory responsiveness and a greater proportion of sensory over-responsiveness (SOR) (Mdn = 2.00, [Formula: see text] = 31.6%) compared to participants without a history of CA (Mdn = 1.74, [Formula: see text] = 12.3%). High sensory responsiveness was associated with both PTSD symptoms and disturbances in self-organization (DSO) symptoms (r > 0.15, p < .01). Furthermore, SOR was significantly associated with the likelihood of receiving either PTSD or CPTSD classifications ([Formula: see text]). In the presence of SOR, the gap in the predicted probabilities for the two diagnoses doubled on average across all combinations of abuse features.Conclusion: These findings suggest that high responsiveness to sensory stimuli may be related not only to PTSD but also to the profound and enduring effects of CA, as reflected in CPTSD. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d2eeafe4c28a4cd4b82e0fb21fb6774e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2000-8066 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
| spelling | doaj-art-d2eeafe4c28a4cd4b82e0fb21fb6774e2025-08-20T03:25:43ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEuropean Journal of Psychotraumatology2000-80662025-12-0116110.1080/20008066.2025.2512672Sensory modulation difficulties and complex PTSD among child abuse survivorsNitzan Avigail Kidra0Lee Gafter1Tami Bar-Shalita2Yael Lahav3Department of Occupational Therapy, The Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, IsraelFaculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion− Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IsraelDepartment of Occupational Therapy, The Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, IsraelDepartment of Occupational Therapy, The Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, IsraelBackground: Child abuse (CA) has diverse long-term negative outcomes, including trauma-related disorders such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). Evidence suggests that CA may also result in sensory modulation dysfunction, which is related to posttraumatic distress. However, previous research has primarily explored the relationship between sensory modulation and PTSD, without examining the role of sensory modulation in both PTSD and CPTSD.Objective: This study aimed to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring (1) sensory modulation response patterns as a function of a history of CA; (2) the relationships between sensory modulation, PTSD, and disturbances in self-organization (DSO) in CA survivors; and (3) The role of sensory modulation response patterns in the likelihood of being diagnosed with PTSD or CPTSD.Method: An online survey was conducted among a convenience sample of Israeli female adults (n = 426), including 288 (67.6%) CA survivors and 138 (32.4%) participants without a history of CA. Background variables, abuse features, sensory modulation, and PTSD and CPTSD symptoms were assessed via self-report measures.Results: CA survivors exhibited higher scores for high sensory responsiveness and a greater proportion of sensory over-responsiveness (SOR) (Mdn = 2.00, [Formula: see text] = 31.6%) compared to participants without a history of CA (Mdn = 1.74, [Formula: see text] = 12.3%). High sensory responsiveness was associated with both PTSD symptoms and disturbances in self-organization (DSO) symptoms (r > 0.15, p < .01). Furthermore, SOR was significantly associated with the likelihood of receiving either PTSD or CPTSD classifications ([Formula: see text]). In the presence of SOR, the gap in the predicted probabilities for the two diagnoses doubled on average across all combinations of abuse features.Conclusion: These findings suggest that high responsiveness to sensory stimuli may be related not only to PTSD but also to the profound and enduring effects of CA, as reflected in CPTSD.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2512672Posttraumatic stress disordercomplex posttraumatic stress disordersensory modulationsensory processingchild abusetrauma |
| spellingShingle | Nitzan Avigail Kidra Lee Gafter Tami Bar-Shalita Yael Lahav Sensory modulation difficulties and complex PTSD among child abuse survivors European Journal of Psychotraumatology Posttraumatic stress disorder complex posttraumatic stress disorder sensory modulation sensory processing child abuse trauma |
| title | Sensory modulation difficulties and complex PTSD among child abuse survivors |
| title_full | Sensory modulation difficulties and complex PTSD among child abuse survivors |
| title_fullStr | Sensory modulation difficulties and complex PTSD among child abuse survivors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sensory modulation difficulties and complex PTSD among child abuse survivors |
| title_short | Sensory modulation difficulties and complex PTSD among child abuse survivors |
| title_sort | sensory modulation difficulties and complex ptsd among child abuse survivors |
| topic | Posttraumatic stress disorder complex posttraumatic stress disorder sensory modulation sensory processing child abuse trauma |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2512672 |
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