Developmental trauma and its correlates: a study of Chinese children with repeated familial physical and sexual abuse in Hong Kong.

Abstract

The present study examined the relevance of the developmental trauma disorder (DTD) framework (van der Kolk, ) in Hong Kong Chinese children with repeated familial physical and/or sexual abuse. Self-reports of (a) key dimensions of DTD including emotion regulation, attribution and perceptions in self and relationships, belief in future victimization, behavioral difficulties, and self-esteem; and (b) attachment styles and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reactions were obtained from children aged 9-15 years in clinical and school settings. Children were categorized into an abused trauma group (n = 82), a nonabused trauma group (n = 83), and a no-trauma control group (n = 201). The findings indicated that the DTD framework was applicable to abused children who showed a lower level of attachment security (Cohen's d from 0.50-0.61) and a higher level of PTSD reactions (Cohen's d = 0.71) than the comparison groups. After adding attachment security and emotion dysregulation to the model, there were no longer significant group differences in most of the variables.