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Clinical Psychology and Special Education
2025. Vol. 14, no. 4, 39–55
doi:10.17759/cpse.2025140403
ISSN: 2304-0394 (online)

Experiencing traumatic events from the past during early adulthood

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. The study of the consequences of experiencing high-intensity stressors in young adults (17–32 years old) is scientific interest due to the fact that, firstly, it allows us to address the problem of perception and assessment of traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescence, and, secondly, it makes it possible to identify the features of experiencing life-threatening events in the age period, taking into account the polycontextuality of human life in the modern world. Objective. The aim of the study is to identify a list of current traumatic stressors and show differences in their experience (in terms of post-traumatic stress) in young people during early adulthood. The hypothesis of the study is that the current list of traumatic stressors will include: loss of a loved one, physical and psychological violence, life-threatening illness, as well as living in a military area and a viral threat; it is expected that the group of the most traumatic effects will include events related to military operations. Methods and materials. The study involved 309 people aged 17 to 32 years (М = 19.8, SD = 3.2) from different regions of the Russian Federation (Donetsk, Kazan, Lugansk, Chita, Moscow, etc.). The following methods were used: PCL-5, SCL-90-R. The results showed that during early adulthood, the entire range of traumatic events can be divided into three clusters according to the intensity of their experience. The first cluster of events that cause a low level of emotional response includes natural and man-made disasters, illness of loved ones, and military operations. The second cluster combined their own illnesses, sexualized violence and harassment, physical and psychological violence, death of a loved one, and everyday stressors. The most acute psychopathological symptoms are associated with events of the third cluster: conflicts and crises in relationships, mental disorders and suicidal thoughts. Conclusions. It is shown that during early adulthood, the perception and assessment of traumatic events of the present and the past is manifested by a wide range of psychopathological symptoms, which is associated with the type of life-threatening situations.

General Information

Keywords: traumatic events, post-traumatic stress, psychopathological symptoms, PCL-5, SCL-90-R, early adulthood, age

Journal rubric: Empirical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2025140403

Funding. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 25-18-00366, https://rscf.ru/project/25-18-00366/

Acknowledgements. The authors would like to thank A.N. Zelyanina (Arkhangelsk), M.G. Yusupov (Kazan), O.A. Vorona (Chita), and I.V. Kiseleva (Donetsk) for their assistance in collecting data for this study.

Received 29.09.2025

Revised 04.12.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Kharlamenkova, N. E., Nikitina, D.A., Shatalova, N., Bykhovets, J.V. (2025). Experiencing traumatic events from the past during early adulthood. Clinical Psychology and Special Education, 14(4), 39–55. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2025140403

© Kharlamenkova N. E., Nikitina D.A., Shatalova N., Bykhovets J.V., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Natalia E. Kharlamenkova, Doctor of Psychology, professor, Deputy Director for Scientific Work, Head of the Laboratory of Psychology of the development of the subject in normal and post-traumatic conditions, Institute of Psychology of Russian Academy of Science, Head of the Department of Personality Psychology of the Faculty of Psychology of the State Academic University of Humanities, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0508-4157, e-mail: nataly.kharlamenkova@gmail.com

Daria A. Nikitina, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Junior Researcher, Laboratory of Developmental Psychology of the subject in normal and post-traumatic conditions, Institute of Psychology Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6695-1851, e-mail: d.a.nikitina@yandex.ru

Nadezhda Shatalova, leading specialist, Institute of Psychology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1413-7529, e-mail: shatalovane@ipran.ru

Julia V. Bykhovets, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Senior Researcher, Laboratory of Psychology of Development of the Subject in Normal and Post-Traumatic States, Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IP RAS), Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0163-4334, e-mail: bykhovets@yandex.ru

Contribution of the authors

Natalia E. Kharlamenkova — research ideas; annotation, writing and design of the manuscript; research planning; control over the conduct of the research. ъ

Daria A. Nikitina — application of statistical methods for data analysis; data collection and analysis, writing of the manuscript.

Nadezhda E. Shatalova — data analysis, selection and analysis of literature, design of the manuscript

Julia V. Bykhovets — application of statistical methods for data analysis; data collection and analysis, writing of the manuscript.

All authors participated in the discussion of the results and agreed on the final manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Institute of Psychology Russian Academy of Sciences (report 2025/04/02).

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