Childhood Maltreatment, Traumatic Experiences and Stress-associated Parameters in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Childhood maltreatment (CM) in psychotic disorders is associated with increased cognitive deficits, severe psychotic symptoms, and increased comorbidity. The number of different stress experiences also increases the probability of trauma-associated symptoms. Furthermore, neurobiological changes play a key role in the vulnerability of individuals with early traumas for mental and physical illnesses, among others for diseases of the schizophrenia spectrum disorder and the further course of the disease. The project is divided into two work programs and pursues: 1. A detailed recording of the course of symptoms in participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorder to link this data with a systematic recording of CM and traumatic experiences and biological data. 2. On a subsample of participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorder and a comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the researchers want to investigate whether symptom traits of existing psychotic disorders, trauma-associated symptoms and cognitive functions can be influenced by a trauma-specific treatment (NET), that has been proven to be effective in the treatment of PTSD.