Auditory verbal hallucinations and childhood trauma subtypes across the psychosis continuum: a cluster analysis

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow diagram.

Table 1. Sample characteristics for clinical individuals with AVH, non-clinical individuals with AVH and non-clinical individuals without AVH.

	Clinical AVH (n = 166)	Non-clinical AVH (n = 122)	No AVH (n = 125)	Test statistic	df	p-value	Post-hoc
Male, n (%)	79 (47.6)	37 (30.3)	40 (32)	χ2 = 11.46	2	0.003	Clinical AVH > Non-clinical AVH p = 0.003 Clinical AVH > No AVH p = 0.007
Age, mean in years (SD)	38.65 (12.05)	41.83 (13.64)	42.88 (14.37)	F = 4.03	2	0.019	Clinical AVH < No AVH p = 0.022
Years of education, mean (SD)	12.98 (3.04)	13.39 (2.30)	14.05 (2.31)	F = 5.70	2	0.002	Clinical AVH < No AVH p = 0.001
Age of onset, mean in years (SD)	20.98 (13.04)	13.59 (14.29)	N.A.	F = 20.34	1	<0.001	-
Childhood trauma (total CTQ), mean (SD)	48.94 (19.64)	44.60 (15.96)	36.02 (8.43)	F = 23.86	2	<0.001	Clinical AVH > No AVH p<0.001 Non-clinical AVH > No AVH p<0.001
Physical abuse	8.95 (5.55)	6.76 (3.41)	5.47 (1.25)	F = 27.75	2	<0.001	Clinical AVH > Non-clinical AVH p<0.001 Clinical AVH > No AVH p<0.001 Non-Clinical AVH > No AVH p<0.001
Sexual abuse	8.64 (5.04)	7.69 (4.54)	5.71 (1.80)	F = 17.90	2	<0.001	Clinical AVH > No AVH p<0.001 Non-clinical AVH > No AVH p<0.001
Emotional abuse	10.91 (5.36)	10.43 (5.02)	7.26 (2.86)	F = 24.59	2	<0.001	Clinical AVH > No AVH p<0.001 Non-clinical AVH > No AVH p<0.001
Physical neglect	8.39 (3.53)	7.41 (2.67)	6.65 (2.09)	F = 13.11	2	<0.001	Clinical AVH > Non-clinical AVH p = 0.021 Clinical AVH > No AVH p<0.001 Non-clinical AVH > No AVH p = 0.035
Emotional neglect	12.05 (5.09)	12.30 (5.13)	10.94 (4.19)	F = 2.86	2	0.059	-

AVH: Auditory verbal hallucinations; CTQ: Childhood trauma questionnaire; df: degrees of freedom.

Figure 2. Childhood trauma subtype scores per trauma cluster.

Table 2. Sample characteristics for each childhood trauma cluster.

	Low trauma cluster (n = 299)	Emotion-focused trauma cluster (n = 71)	Multi-trauma cluster (n = 43)	Test statistic	df	p-value	Post-hoc test
Male, n (%)	118 (39.46)	16 (22.54)	22 (51.16)	χ^2 = 10.66	2	0.005	LT>ET p = 0.008 ET<MT p = 0.002
Age, mean in years (SD)	40.01 (13.55)	43.48 (11.38)	41.99 (13.49)	F = 2.15	2	0.117	-
Years of education, mean (SD)	13.63 (2.68)	13.18 (2.25)	12.59 (2.70)	F = 3.12	2	0.045	-
Age of onset, mean in years (SD)	20.20 (14.28)	12.20 (12.81)	15.33 (12.23)	F = 8.36	2	<0.001	LT>ET p<0.001
Childhood trauma (total CTQ), mean (SD)	35.46 (7.41)	58.03 (9.43)	77.78 (13.70)	F = 570.56	2	<0.001	LT<ET p = 0.041 LT<MT p<0.001 ET<MT p<0.001
Physical abuse	5.97 (2.26)	6.66 (2.10)	17.14 (4.96)	F = 337.26	2	<0.001	LT<ET p = 0.041 LT<MT p<0.001 ET<MT p<0.001
Sexual abuse	5.91 (1.68)	10.25 (6.42)	13.72 (4.93)	F = 127.49	2	<0.001	LT<ET p<0.001 LT<MT p<0.001 ET<MT p = 0.005
Emotional abuse	7.29 (2.30)	14.69 (4.01)	17.84 (4.38)	F = 371.10	2	<0.001	LT<ET p<0.001 LT<MT p<0.001 ET<MT p = 0.001
Physical neglect	6.53 (1.89)	8.96 (2.69)	12.53 (3.76)	F = 143.90	2	<0.001	LT<ET p<0.001 LT<MT p<0.001 ET<MT p<0.001
Emotional neglect	9.75 (3.35)	17.47 (3.86)	16.55 (4.56)	F = 175.29	2	<0.001	LT<ET p<0.001 LT<MT p<0.001

CTQ: Childhood trauma questionnaire; df: degrees of freedom; LT: Low trauma; ET: Emotion-focused trauma; MT: Multi-trauma.

Figure 3. Distribution of the three included subgroups per childhood trauma cluster (clinical individuals with AVH, non-clinical individuals with AVH and non-clinical individuals without AVH).

Table 3. Voice phenomenology (PSYRATS) per childhood trauma cluster.

	Low trauma cluster (n = 180)		Emotion-focused trauma cluster (n = 60)		Multi-trauma cluster (n = 42)		Test statistic		p-value
	Mean (SD)	Description of mean	Mean (SD)	Description of mean	Mean (SD)	Description of mean		df		Post hoc
Frequency	4.17(1.40)	“At least once a day”	4.18(1.46)	“At least once a day”	4.29(1.11)	“At least once a day”	F = 0.13	2	0.879
Duration	2.16(1.18)	“Several minutes”	2.25(1.27)	“Several minutes”	2.07(1.00)	“Several minutes”	F = F = 0.30	2	0.745
Location	2.32(1.23)	“Outside head; close to ears or head”	2.12(1.12)	“Outside head; close to ears or head”	2.45(1.21)	“Outside head; close to ears or head”	F = 1.07	2	0.345
Loudness	1.81(0.74)	“Same loudness as own voice”	1.87(0.77)	“Same loudness as own voice”	2.12(0.92)	“Same loudness as own voice”	F = 2.79	2	0.063
Beliefs about origin	2.72(1.19)	“>50% conviction regarding external cause”	2.93(1.23)	“>50% conviction regarding external cause”	2.71(1.22)	“>50% conviction regarding external cause”	F = 0.77	2	0.463
Amount of negative content	1.64(1.58)	“<50% negative”	1.43(1.69)	“<10% negative”	2.36(1.56)	“<50% negative”	F = 4.50	2	0.012	LT<MT p = 0.025 ET<MT p = 0.015
Degree of negative content	1.68(1.57)	“Personal verbal abuse regarding behaviour”	1.50(1.61)	“Personal verbal abuse regarding behaviour”	2.19(1.57)	“Personal verbal abuse regarding behaviour”	F = 2.50	2	0.084
Amount of distress	1.63(1.53)	50% distressing	1.47(1.67)	“<10% distressing”	2.07(1.46)	50% distressing	F = 1.99	2	0.139
Degree of distress	1.57(1.38)	“Moderately distressing”	1.17(1.42)	“Slightly distressing”	1.79(1.24)	“Moderately distressing”	F = 2.92	2	0.056
Impact on functioning	1.28(1.32)	“Minimal disruption”	1.07(1.36)	“Minimal disruption”	1.40(1.36)	“Minimal disruption”	F = 0.89	2	0.412
Controllability	2.63(1.47)	“Some control occasionally”	2.27(1.49)	“Some control half the time”	2.98(1.22)	“Some control occasionally”	F = 3.07	2	0.048	ET<MT p = 0.026
Age of onset, in years	19.87 (13.76)	N.A.	12.93(13.99)	N.A.	15.33(12.23)	N.A.	F = 6.63	2	0.002	LT>ET p = 0.003
Number of voices	2.42(1.03)	“Two voices”	2.45(1.048)	“Two voices”	2.69(1.07)	“More than two voices”	F = 1.17	2	0.311

AVH: Auditory verbal hallucinations; PSYRATS: Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale; LT: Low trauma; ET: Emotion-focused trauma; MT: Multi-trauma.

Figure 4. Beliefs about voices scores per childhood trauma cluster. Scores are represented as percentage (%) of the maximum score per BAVQ-R subscale.

Data availability

Access and use of this data is protected by ethics requirements. Researchers requesting access to these data can contact the corresponding author to discuss.