Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Childhood trauma is associated with a more severe clinical course in bipolar disorders; however, the latent profiles of childhood trauma and their differential impacts on cognitive functioning and quality of life remain underexplored. METHODS: Using latent profiles analysis, 275 bipolar patients were categorized into distinct trauma profiles based on Childhood Trauma Questionnaire scores. The characteristics of sociodemographic, clinical, pharmacological and biochemical variables, as well as objective and subjective cognitive functioning, and quality of life, were compared across profiles and with 63 healthy controls. RESULTS: Three distinct profiles emerged: high trauma (HT, 14.55%), high neglect (HN, 30.18%) and low trauma (LT, 55.27%). Compared to healthy controls, all bipolar groups exhibited worse performance on nearly all aspects of objective and subjective cognitive functioning, and quality of life. Both the HT and HN profiles were significantly associated with subjective cognitive functioning. Notably, only the HT profile was significantly associated with objective cognitive functioning, whereas the HN profile was specifically linked to quality of life. DISCUSSION: This study highlights multiple childhood trauma profiles in bipolar disorder. Findings reveal that trauma and neglect significantly influence diverse functional and clinical outcomes in bipolar disorder. Further research is crucial to elucidate their impact mechanisms.