T63 - The Intergenerational Effects Of Trauma: Integrating Narrative And Neuroscience To Understand Adversity And Resilience

Abstract

Background The evidence for vulnerability and resilience as responses to traumatic events points to a range of long-term effects following trauma. The factors that modify the adaptation to trauma include the environment and prior experience. This study compares recent work in the field of neuroscience, particularly the application of epigenetic methods to trauma studies, with findings related to the transformative power of trauma narratives. Methods The Transcending Trauma Project has collected and analyzed 300 in-depth narratives of Holocaust survivors and their family members. Our approach points to the influence of narratives shared about the memories of trauma on shaping the worldview of those who listen. The Transcending Trauma Project team has focused on the comprehensive study of coping and adaptation after extreme trauma through the expansion of current paradigms by applying the principles of qualitative research to the study of a large sample consisting of family units comprised of intergenerational members of the same family. The challenge we faced included devising methods for the management of a large data set and methods for assessing qualitative narrative material on the individual and family system levels. Our observations are compatible with recent epigenetic modifications that have been shown to correlate with the intergenerational transmission of posttraumatic stress disorder risk. Results When a particular attribute of a survivor parent is emotionally compelling, this attribute can become an organizing value system in the identity of the child. We have framed the process as the communication of transformative narratives. Integrating epigenetics into a model that probes the mechanisms through which the meaning of prior experience is expressed and transmitted is consistent with the approach we have used to trace the impact of pivotal narratives. Discussion Through this analysis, we underline the importance of a developmental view that evaluates the complex biological and psychological processes that contain both the elements of positive adaptation and negative consequences as they are experienced by trauma survivors and their offspring