When early trauma changes trust in other people

Why do some people find it hard to trust others after early traumatic experiences, while at the same time they can be particularly prone to accepting other people's information or judgements uncritically?

A new study by Lashani and colleagues (2026), published in Translational Psychiatry, examines the role of so-called epistemic trust in the development of PTSD and complex PTSD (CPTSD).

Epistemic trust describes the ability to judge information conveyed by other people as credible, relevant and helpful for one's own life. The researchers distinguish three dimensions:

• Epistemic trust: openness to credible information from other people.
• Epistemic mistrust: the tendency to question or reject other people's information on principle.
• Epistemic credulity: the tendency to accept other people's information uncritically, even when it may be unreliable.

The study

Self-report data from a representative German sample of 2,519 people were examined. The researchers analysed how the type and timing of traumatic experiences relate to epistemic trust, mistrust and credulity, as well as to symptoms of PTSD and disturbances in self-organization (DSO).

Key findings

Neither the type of trauma nor the age at the time of trauma explained the changes in epistemic trust particularly well on its own. What mattered was the interaction of both factors.

In particular, interpersonal trauma in childhood was associated with reduced epistemic trust and increased epistemic credulity. These changes, in turn, were linked to stronger PTSD symptoms and more pronounced disturbances in self-organization.

Notably, increased credulity in particular was a statistically significant mediating factor between early relational trauma and later trauma-related symptoms.

The results therefore suggest that early interpersonal violence may impair not only trust in other people but also the ability to appropriately assess their statements and intentions.

Meaning for psychotherapy

The findings are particularly relevant for the treatment of complex trauma-related disorders. Affected people may have difficulty trusting others and, at the same time, tend to adopt their judgements too readily.

This could help explain, for example, why some patients initially strongly distrust professionals, while others hardly question their statements and put their own perceptions or needs aside.

For psychotherapy, the study underlines the importance of shaping the relationship in a way that promotes not only safety and trust but also critical thinking, self-determination and independent evaluation of information.

It should be noted that this is a cross-sectional study. The associations examined do not allow causal conclusions. In particular, it has not yet been shown that a therapeutic improvement of epistemic trust directly leads to a reduction in PTSD or CPTSD symptoms.

Conclusion

Early interpersonal trauma may be associated with fundamental changes in how people process information and judgements from others. The study thereby adds an important social and developmental perspective to the understanding of complex trauma-related disorders.

More in our guides PTSD and complex PTSD and What is trauma? and on the page Trauma therapy in Berlin.