Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Christian Schmahl, ZI - Central Institute of Mental Health, Germany
- Second opponent: Assistant Professor Christian Eckhoff, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Randi Ulberg, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Associate Professor Espen Saxhaug Kristoffersen, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Synne Øien Stensland, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies/ Oslo University Hospital
Summary
Young individuals exposed to childhood trauma use more analgesics than their unexposed peers
Analgesics are commonly used among young people. While paracetamol and NSAIDs are considered safe to use within recommended doses for otherwise healthy young individuals, adolescents and young adults commonly report a frequency of use that is associated with medication overuse headache and chronification of pain. For opioids and gabapentinoids there is also high risk of misuse and dependence.
Childhood trauma exposure is associated with an increased risk of persistent pain and psychological distress, and such symptoms are associated with frequent analgesics use. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the relationship between childhood trauma and use of analgesics in adolescence and young adulthood. Data from three waves of The Trøndelag Health Study linked to registry data from the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD) were used.
We found that adolescents and young adults exposed to childhood trauma used more over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription analgesics than their unexposed peers. Exposure to more than one trauma type was found to be particularly strongly associated with using more analgesics in both adolescence and young adulthood. Symptoms present in adolescence, including weekly headaches and musculoskeletal pain, psychological distress, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, were found to be relevant for the associations between childhood trauma exposure and analgesics use.
Our findings indicate that individuals exposed to childhood trauma are at increased risk of pursuing and receiving pain treatment that represents a risk for future adverse health outcomes. The increased risk of frequent analgesics use among trauma-exposed young individuals could be accounted for clinically by assessing childhood trauma exposure in young people seeking help with management of persistent pain. Contact with health care providers for help with pain management may represent an opportunity for trauma-exposed individuals to receive trauma-specific care.
Additional information
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