ABSTRACT
Early developmental trauma (EDT) or childhood trauma may loosely be defined as any traumatic experience that occurs before 18 years of age [1]. EDT has been linked to the development of anxiety disorders in adulthood [2-5]. Among South Africans, anxiety disorders (15.8%) are the most prevalent lifetime disorders according to the South African Stress and Health (SASH) study, with social anxiety disorder (SAD) at 2.8% and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at 2.3% [6]. It has been estimated that one in ten children, on average, is neglected or psychologically abused annually and that approximately 4% to 16% are physically abused [7]. Stein et al. in 1996 found in their sample that both adult males and females with an anxiety disorder had higher rates of childhood physical
abuse than those without an anxiety disorder [8]. In addition, females with anxiety disorders had higher rates of childhood sexual abuse [8]. Also, Prigerson et al. in 1996 found that psychological abuse and parental loss were risk factors for the development of adult psychiatric disorders [5]. In SAD [9] and PTSD [10], childhood traumas include physical abuse [1113], sexual abuse [12-18], and emotional abuse [19-23].
