Relative Importance of Positive and Potentially Traumatic Childhood Experiences in Explaining Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms
- 1Emory University School of Medicine
Abstract
The original adverse childhood experiences study linked childhood experiences to health in adulthood. Since then, other traumatic and adverse childhood experiences (TRACEs) and positive childhood experiences (PCEs) have also been linked to physical and mental health. However, little research has examined these experiences among people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This study examined whether cumulative and individual childhood experiences explained variability in symptom burden in adults with MS. Participants were 467 adults with MS (Mage = 41.5, 45% female) who completed measures of pain, subjective cognitive impairment, cognitive fatigue, depression, TRACEs, and PCEs. The elastic net algorithm examined cumulative TRACEs, PCEs, their interaction, and individual childhood experiences. R-squared was used to assess the proportion of variance in each outcome accounted for by childhood experiences, and variable importance identified experiences that most improved the models explanatory power for each outcome. Individual childhood experiences accounted for 26.0%, 17.1%, 13.9%, and 22.4% of variance in pain, subjective cognitive impairment, cognitive fatigue, and depression, respectively, and overall had stronger performance relative to the cumulative main effects TRACEs and PCEs model, and their interaction. Having at least one safe caregiver was consistently important across MS symptoms, and sudden loss of a loved one had the strongest explanatory association with subjective cognitive impairment and cognitive fatigue specifically. Specific childhood experiences accounted for meaningful variance in the MS symptom burden. Individual childhood experiences provided more explanatory information than cumulative scores. Findings support examining specific TRACEs and PCEs when investigating symptom burden in MS.
Related
- Psychoeducational interventions for children and adolescents with potentially traumatic experiences: a systematic review Intervenciones psicoeducactivas para niños y adolescentes con experiencias potencialmente traumáticas: una revisión sistemática
- Childhood traumatic experiences and postpartum depression: a mixed methods narrative study.
- Investigating the relationship between childhood interpersonal traumatic experiences and appraisals, belonging, shame, and dissociation.
- Visual Target P3b Amplitude Mediates the Relationship between Childhood Traumatic Experiences and Social Functioning in People at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis
- Implementing Handle With Care: A Cross-Sector Model Linking Schools and First Responders to Support Children Exposed to Potentially Traumatic Events
BibTeX
@misc{obenauf2026relative,
title = {{Relative Importance of Positive and Potentially Traumatic Childhood Experiences in Explaining Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms}},
author = {C. Obenauf and A. Vazquez and G. Owens},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.29.26366800},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.26366800v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Relative Importance of Positive and Potentially Traumatic Childhood Experiences in Explaining Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms
AU - C. Obenauf
AU - A. Vazquez
AU - G. Owens
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.29.26366800
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.26366800v1
AB - The original adverse childhood experiences study linked childhood experiences to health in adulthood. Since then, other traumatic and adverse childhood experiences (TRACEs) and positive childhood experiences (PCEs) have also been linked to physical and mental health. However, little research has examined these experiences among people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This study examined whether cumulative and individual childhood experiences explained variability in symptom burden in adults with MS. Participants were 467 adults with MS (Mage = 41.5, 45% female) who completed measures of pain, subjective cognitive impairment, cognitive fatigue, depression, TRACEs, and PCEs. The elastic net algorithm examined cumulative TRACEs, PCEs, their interaction, and individual childhood experiences. R-squared was used to assess the proportion of variance in each outcome accounted for by childhood experiences, and variable importance identified experiences that most improved the models explanatory power for each outcome. Individual childhood experiences accounted for 26.0%, 17.1%, 13.9%, and 22.4% of variance in pain, subjective cognitive impairment, cognitive fatigue, and depression, respectively, and overall had stronger performance relative to the cumulative main effects TRACEs and PCEs model, and their interaction. Having at least one safe caregiver was consistently important across MS symptoms, and sudden loss of a loved one had the strongest explanatory association with subjective cognitive impairment and cognitive fatigue specifically. Specific childhood experiences accounted for meaningful variance in the MS symptom burden. Individual childhood experiences provided more explanatory information than cumulative scores. Findings support examining specific TRACEs and PCEs when investigating symptom burden in MS.
ER -