We used the List of Life Threatening Experiences questionnaire [22] to identify recent negative life events (RLE) related to intimate relationships, financial difficulties, illnesses/injuries and network problems occurring in the last year. The number of life event items was calculated and used for the initial analysis. Next the scores were grouped into three categories (low = 0–1, medium = 2, high = 3 or more) based on our previous studies [18,19] and groups were used in the subsequent analysis and the Bayesian calculations. Childhood Adversity (CHA) questions related to emotional and physical abuse and emotional and physical neglect were derived from the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire [23] plus an additional question asked about parental loss during childhood. The CHA was validated with the full version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in a subpopulation [17]. The sum of item scores was first calculated and used and next divided into three categories (low = 0–3, medium = 4–6, high = 7 or more) CHA based on our previous studies [17] for further statistical analysis.
