Chapter 8: Childhood Trauma and Resilience HL Flashcards
The case of Genie
Relationship with mother highly separated
Her father believed that she was mentally retarded and decided to keep her isolated in a locked room.
Deprived of social interaction and communication, starved, isolated.
Her household was kept in silence much of the time.
Developed good non-verbal communication skills, but she was never able to fully acquire language.
The case of Anna
Relationship with mother was also strained (but she was not separated from society for as long as Genie)
Tied to a chair, starved, neglected, and isolated.
By the age of 9 she managed to develop some speech, for example, she had a comprehension for instructions, but she never developed speech properly.
The case of Isabelle
Isabelle was confined to a room with her mute mother for 6.5 years. Her mother cared for her somewhat and communicated with her non-verbally.
Isolated from everyone except her mother, deprived of verbal communication.
The fact that Isabelle had communicated with her deaf mother through hand gestures made it easier for her to develop language skills afterwards. By the age of 8, she was considered a child with normal intelligence.
Feldman and Vengrober (2011)
examined PTSD (war-related trauma) symptoms in children aged 1.5-5 years living near the Gaza strip.
Diagnosed 38% of the children with PTSD, which is very high considering the average rates of PTSD among children not exposed to war are less than 1%.
Some children were exposed to trauma but were not diagnosed with PTSD: they are resilient.
Resilience
The capacity to adapt to stressful situations and bounce back from harmful effects of severe adversity.
MacFarlane (1987)
Aim: Investigate the dependence of children on the behavior of their caregivers/parents in Australian households following the bushfires in 1983.
Method: Self-report
Procedure: Children and parents were scored for PTSD symptoms through reports from parents or teachers.
Results: Showed that there was a correlation between the parents’ and childrens’ PTSD symptoms, and that separation right after the fire was the greatest contributer to childrens’ PTSD symptoms.
Conclusion: The initial and following reaction and (change in) behavior of parents or caregivers affects children’s’ PTSD symptoms.
Evaluation: Difficult to rely entirely on self-report.
Betancourt et al (2013)
A: Aimed to investigate resilience among children in Sierra Leone with war-affected youth, many of whom were child soldiers.
M: Self-report and interviews
P: Longitudinal study; children were interviewed three times. Researchers then identified four common symptoms among the children.
R: Four common symptoms:
- Maintaining low levels of depression and anxiety: 41%
- Improving over time despite access to care: 48%
- Stable reporting of severe difficulties: 5%
- Worsening symptoms: 6%
Researchers also found that the factors responsible for triggering they conditions were usually loss of a caregiver, family abuse and neglect, or community’s disapproval and distancing of their fighting.
C: The access to care among children has a negative impact on their PTSD symptoms.
E: No pre-war information on the children is available.
Not very generalizable due the study’s specific nature.
Relies on self-report.
DeVries (1984)
A: Investigate the impact cultural context has on resilience in children.
M: Meta-analysis and Field study
P: First, researchers looked at western parents’ treatment of demanding vs. docile children. They found that demanding children usually caused more family stress, resulting in the child experiencing abuse or developmental problems.
The researchers wanted to investigate whether it was the same for Maasai children following the sub-Saharan droughts of 1974.
After analyzing questionnaires answered by mothers, they found 10 “demanding” children and 10 “easy to manage” children. They were followed up upon 2-3 months later. They found 13 of the 20 families.
R: Results showed that children who were difficult to manage and more demanding were more likely to get the necessary nutrition to survive.
During the research period 5 easy children died and only 2 difficult children died.
C: Maasai children who are more demanding are more likely to survive and have their needs satisfied. (As opposed to the western children)
From this it can be understood that resilience is culturally specific.
E: Small sample
Burbank (1994)
Investigated how Aboriginal women in Australia experience aggression and domestic violence. Found that the existence of structured ritual retribution may work against aggression, helping people overcome trauma.
Schoon and Bartley (2008)
A: Stated that an individual’s resilience should not be reduced to their personality, and that social and economic factors play a large role in supporting the individual and their family.
M: Meta-analysis
P: Reviewed research studies and identified the sources of resilience (in results).
R: - Staying in school helps people overcome trauma
- A stable family will help people overcome trauma
- Having a wide social circle will help in overcoming trauma
- Employment that includes a lot of opportunities and fair pay helps in overcoming trauma.
C: In order to help individuals overcome trauma and help families support them, larger-scale economic and social interventions must be applied.
E: It is a theory – experiment needed.
