Biological alterations affecting risk of adult psychopathology following childhood trauma: A review of sex differences

Childhood trauma exposure is a significant public health problem. While adult mental health consequences of such experiences are well documented, sex differences in both prevalence and severity are less understood. Sex-based differences in biological circuitry and physiological trauma responses are proposed to potentiate the differential risk for pathogenesis of mental health disorders among adults. This paper will provide a contextualized summary of neuroendocrine, neuroimaging, and behavioral epigenetic studies on biological sex differences contributing to internalizing psychopathology, specifically posttraumatic stress disorder and depression, among adults with a history of childhood abuse. This review concludes with a discussion of implications for trauma interventions and sex-based biopsychological research in violence prevention. •Biological system effects on adult psychopathology risk post-child abuse vary.•Biological sex differences post-child abuse may drive bias in psychopathology risk.•Data on trauma treatment effects on sex-specific biobehavioral outcomes are limited.