Survivors Of Childhood Trauma Research Articles

Self-stigma mediates the relationships between childhood maltreatment and symptom levels of PTSD, depression, and anxiety

ABSTRACT Background: Childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for developing multiple forms of psychopathology, including depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety. Yet, the mechanisms linking childhood maltreatment and these psychopathologies remain less clear. Objective: Here we examined whether self-stigma, the internalization of negative stereotypes about one's experiences, mediates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and symptom severity of depression, PTSD, and anxiety. Methods: Childhood trauma survivors (N = 685, Mage = 36.8) were assessed for childhood maltreatment, self-stigma, and symptoms of depression, PTSD, and anxiety. We used mediation analyses with childhood maltreatment as the independent variable. We then repeated these mediation models separately for childhood abuse and neglect, as well as the different subtypes of childhood maltreatment. Results: Self-stigma significantly mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and depression, PTSD, and anxiety symptoms. For sexual abuse – but not physical or emotional abuse – a significant mediation effect of self-stigma emerged on all symptom types. For childhood neglect, self-stigma significantly mediated the relationship between both emotional and physical neglect and all symptom types. Conclusion: Our cross-sectional study suggests that different types of childhood maltreatment experiences may relate to distinct mental health problems, potentially linked to increased self-stigma. Self-stigma may serve as an important treatment target for survivors of childhood abuse and neglect.

Maternal childhood trauma and toddlers’ behavioural and endocrine reactions to a crying baby doll

BackgroundChildhood trauma can have long-term consequences for survivors, but also for survivors’ children. Children of childhood trauma survivors are more likely to develop aggressive and antisocial behaviour problems, indicating that parents’ childhood trauma may affect children’s social development. Less is known, however, about how maternal childhood trauma may affect positive aspects of children’s social behaviour, like their empathic and prosocial responses to witnessing others’ distress. Additionally, some studies suggest that maternal childhood trauma may also affect children’s physiology, particularly their endocrine responses to (dis)stress. We therefore examined the link between maternal childhood trauma experiences and children’s behavioural and endocrine responses to witnessing distress in others. MethodsWe recruited 75 mothers with 12-24 month-old toddlers. Mothers’ childhood trauma experiences was assessed and toddlers were exposed to a realistic-looking, crying baby doll, to assess their levels of distress, empathic concern for, and prosocial behaviour towards the doll. Saliva samples were taken two times prior to and one time 25minutes after exposing children to the crying doll, to assess toddlers’ baseline and reactivity cortisol concentrations in response to the crying doll. ResultsData analysis is still ongoing. The results contribute to understanding whether maternal childhood trauma can affect children’s behavioural and endocrine responses to others’ distress. ConclusionTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first study examining whether maternal childhood trauma can affect children’s responses – both behavioural and endocrine – to others’ distress. Our study may contribute to understand the intergenerational effects of childhood trauma on child social development.

How Does Trauma Make You Sick? The Role of Attachment in Explaining Somatic Symptoms of Survivors of Childhood Trauma.

Exposure to traumatic events during childhood is common, and the consequences for physical and mental health can be severe. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect appear to contribute to the onset and severity of a variety of somatic inflictions, including obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. The aim of this scoping review was to try to gain insight into how this might occur. Given the evidence of indirect (i.e., through unhealthy behaviours such as excessive drinking or poor eating habits) and direct (i.e., through its impact on the endocrine, immune, and cardiovascular systems as well as on the brain) effects of attachment on health, we examined the possibility that insecure attachment might contribute to the development of somatic symptoms in adult survivors of childhood trauma. Eleven studies met our inclusion criteria. Findings from this review suggest that insecure and disorganized attachment orientations are related to DNA damage, metabolic syndrome and obesity, physical pain, functional neurological disorder, and somatization in adults exposed to childhood trauma. We discuss the implications of this for the conceptualization and treatment of trauma and stress disorders.

Assessing Health Equity in Partnership with Children's Mental Health Organizations: Considerations Before the Implementation of Parenting Programs.

Understanding and addressing how an individual's social, political, economic, and cultural context affects their ability to achieve optimal health is essential to designing and implementing interventions. Before evaluating two parenting programs, in partnership with four children's mental health organizations, we used the Health Equity Impact Assessment tool (HEIA) to identify groups that may experience unintended health impacts, as well as generated mitigation strategies to address these impacts. HEIA activities included a review of the published literature, a review of organizational documents, key informant interviews with staff (n = 12) and other related community service providers (n = 7), and a geographic information systems analysis. All sources of evidence were considered and analyzed using reflective thematic analysis. Summary reports were shared with all partners. A range of groups were identified as at risk of experiencing unintended health impacts, including caregivers who are racialized, immigrants, Indigenous, living with mental health issues or addictions, dealing with intellectual challenges and/or low literacy levels, survivors of childhood trauma, single parent families, or families experiencing financial difficulties. Unintended health impacts were sorted into 6 main themes which fell under the overarching themes of accessibility of the programs and cultural appropriateness. Mitigation strategies as well as innovative strategies already being applied by participating organizations are discussed. Although this HEIA focused on parenting programs, the findings address equity issues applicable to the provision of a wide spectrum of children's mental health services.

Impact of Stress Exposure on Mental and Physical Health across the Life Span: Molecular mechanisms, Neurobiological abnormalities, and Novel Pathways for Intervention

Stress exposures across the lifespan are known to have potent and long-lasting negative effects on mental health, and on the vulnerability to develop several metabolic dysfunctions. Importantly, the outcomes depend on the timing of the exposure as stress experienced at different neurodevelopmental windows (early in life, adolescence, adulthood, and old age) can lead to different negative outcomes via the involvement of distinct molecular and neurobiological mechanisms. Therefore, this symposium will integrate behavioural, immunological, and molecular findings from preclinical studies and clinical cohorts to dissect biological pathways that are involved in the effect of stress exposure at different stages and that can explain the onset of different negative outcomes. Moreover, we will also discuss promising new targets for preventing the negative effects of stress on brain function, cognition, affective behaviours, and physical health. Dr. Christoph Anacker will present data on how the serotonin system modulates neuroinflammatory responses to early life adversity in the mouse hippocampus across the lifespan, including adolescence, adulthood, and old age. He will show that rescuing impairments in serotonin signalling that result from early life adversity reduces neuroinflammation in the hippocampus, as well as associated deficits in neural signalling. Dr. Cattaneo will show data on inflammation related pathways as main biological systems affected by exposure to stress early in life both in animal models as well as in humans across lifespan and she will also discuss how this can also drive comorbidities between mental and physical diseases. She will also show how stress occurring at a different life period, at adulthood, enhance the risk for psychopathology by activating a different set of inflammatory pattern drive by specific and distinct epigenetic signatures. Dr. Nikolaos Daskalakis will show data on effects due to exposure to adversities at different ages (early in life and adolescence) and their additive effect on stress responses and vulnerability based on genetic background. He will show how animals exposed to early in life stress, upon exposure to adolescence-onset social isolation, exhibit sensorimotor gating deficits linked to hippocampus gene expression signature. He will also show human hippocampal post-mortem data of childhood trauma survivors with and without genetic susceptibility for stress.

Axonal Guidance Dysregulation in Hippocampus underlines a three-hit model of stress susceptibility

Under some combinations of genetic components (hit-1) and early-life conditions (hit-2), the developing phenotype gets compromised when exposed to challenges later in life (hit-3), enhancing the risk for psychiatric symptoms. We tested this “three-hit” hypothesis in a rat line that was genetically selected for high apomorphine-susceptibility (APO-SUS) as the first-hit using Wistar rats as controls. Pups that received low maternal care, as judged from low maternal licking and grooming (LG) scores, were considered to suffer from the second-hit, compared to pups receiving high maternal-LG. As a third-hit, some rats were exposed to post-weaning isolation-rearing, with social-rearing as the control condition. All adult APO-SUS rats displayed high levels of apomorphine-induced gnawing (p<.001; n=120/strain). The APO-SUS Low-LG offspring displayed enhanced hormonal response to stress (p<.001 for ACTH and corticosterone; n=15/maternal care group) and low acoustic startle (p<.050; n=30/maternal care group). The APO-SUS Low-LG offspring that were reared in isolation displayed low acoustic startle and a severe deficit in pre-pulse-inhibition (PPI), which was restored rapidly by CORT-treatment (p<.001 for both; n=10/LG by rearing group). The differential-expression signature in hippocampus (95 genes FDR5%) was enriched with neuron-specific genes (p<.001) and suggested altered axonal guidance (B-H p<.001). Human hippocampal expression signatures of childhood trauma survivors with and without genetic susceptibility for stress are concordant with the rat study. We conclude that cumulative stressful experience during development in genetically-predisposed individuals precipitates behavioral alterations associated with altered stress responsiveness and compromised hippocampus function.

Sleep Quality, Sleep-Related Experiences, and Dissociation in Adult Survivors of Childhood Trauma

ABSTRACT Objectives Exposure to traumatic stress in childhood increases the risk of sleep disturbances. Preliminary evidence suggests that the relationship between childhood trauma and sleep may depend on trauma chronicity. Additionally, little is known about the relationship between sleep and dissociation, a common symptom in post-traumatic stress disorder. This study examined sleep quality, sleep-related experiences, and dissociation in survivors of childhood trauma with different trauma chronicity. Method Nine-hundred-and-fourteen community-dwelling adults completed an online survey. They were divided into three groups: no childhood trauma, short-term childhood trauma, and chronic childhood trauma. Results We found that survivors of chronic childhood trauma had poorer sleep quality than survivors of short-term childhood trauma and individuals without a history of childhood trauma, controlling for age, number of trauma types experienced, psychological distress, and PTSD symptoms. The relationship between dissociation and sleep quality was moderated by trauma chronicity such that dissociation was associated with better sleep quality only in the chronic trauma group. Dissociation was positively associated with sleep-related experiences regardless of trauma exposure and trauma chronicity. Conclusion Our findings highlighted the differential impact of acute and chronic traumatic stress on sleep, and suggested that the relationship between dissociation and sleep could depend on trauma chronicity.

Writing + boxing = Left / Write // Hook

This paper will focus on the (dis)embodied experiences of three rape and incest survivors who were part of the creative arts and sports intervention program, Left / Write // Hook. It suggests their understanding of self is a lived and (dis)embodied space in which they can creatively and reflexively re-tell, re-claim, and re-story their experiences of disconnection and shame associated with their trauma. Left / Write // Hook combines two acts; writing to a prompt, followed by non-contact boxing. The program ran in 2020 as part of a University of Melbourne creativity and wellbeing research initiative, targeting female survivors of childhood sexual abuse and trauma. About the program, founder Donna Lyon says: “The attempt to give expression to hidden and silenced thoughts and memories came through the act of writing, then boxing, to embody and release the emotion”. This paper observes the way that the process of writing informs trauma, trauma informs writing, and the embodied act of boxing informs the movement of stored trauma in the body. This article incorporates personal writing which recounts the experiences of these participants.

Perceived Reality of Self and Others with Two Childhood Trauma Survivors – An Idiographic Case Study

Impacts of childhood trauma can be crucial in understanding personality traits and psychological distress. However, it could be hard to predict if these individuals develop posttraumatic stress or growth. Several quantitative research studies have concluded the connections between childhood trauma and psychopathology or maladaptive personality traits. Various researchers have discovered the negative consequences of early childhood trauma and its long-term effects which may be rudimentary in understanding the causation of life-long psychological and medical deficiencies. This has been very elementary in understanding trait patterns and psychopathology for outcome generalizability and implementing prevention and intervention models. However, these studies still fail to spotlight the importance of the lived experiences of trauma survivors. Nevertheless, the present study is an idiographic single-case study research design used in the exploration of the lived experiences and perceived reality of self and others with two childhood trauma survivors.

Impact of Childhood Trauma on Psychological Distress and Personality Pathology in Young Adults

Adulthood is a time of change, thus stressful. A predetermining factor to this is a provision for a safe environment during the crucial years of life (childhood). Children make meanings of everything and are more dynamic in the early developmental years. It is a basis for their overall development and defines their coping mechanisms during adulthood. Therefore, if they develop faulty meanings of themselves, others, and the world at large, it can alter their abilities to function during adulthood. It is fundamental to understand the psychological well-being and personality traits in adulthood by this very nature of traumatic experiences in childhood. This paper is a conceptual framework discussing a three-tier model to retrospectively understand the impact of childhood trauma on psychological distress and personality pathology in adulthood. This paper suggests future research to focus on developing intervention and prevention models for young adults (childhood trauma survivors) on positive parenting practices.

Acceptability and mechanisms of change associated with group cognitive behavioural therapy using the Recovering from Childhood Abuse Programme among women with CPTSD: a qualitative analysis

AbstractSurvivors of childhood trauma are at increased risk of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). The Recovering from Child Abuse Programme (RCAP) is a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) group promoting adaptive coping strategies which may help overcome CPTSD symptoms in adult survivors of childhood trauma. We sought to explore patient experiences of factors influencing treatment acceptability and potential mechanisms of therapeutic change in a sample of participants in the RCAP programme. As the group was delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating a transition to remote therapy, we further aimed to capture experiences of the transition to telehealth delivery of the programme. A naturalistic sample of 10 women with CPTSD attending a specialist out-patient psychological trauma service participated in the study. Therapy sessions were recorded, transcribed verbatim and group members completed written feedback forms following each session. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the written feedback and transcripts. The RCAP was acceptable to group members and several themes were identified related to the experience of change in the group. Key themes centred on group solidarity; safety in the psychotherapeutic process; schema changes related to the self, others and future catalysed by the shifting of self-blame; increased emotional regulation to feel safer in the present; and increased future optimism. Therapeutic progress continued following the transition to telehealth, although face-to-face delivery was generally preferred. The programme was acceptable and led to cognitive change, enabling increased emotional regulation in the present and improved self-concept, thereby addressing key symptoms of CPTSD.Key learning aims(1)To identify potential mechanisms of therapeutic change related to participation in the Recovery from Childhood Abuse group CBT intervention.(2)To understand factors influencing acceptability of the group intervention among women with CPTSD to childhood sexual abuse.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among Survivors of Multiple Childhood Trauma: A Pilot Effectiveness Study

ABSTRACT Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition and exposure to multiple types of childhood trauma contributes to higher co-occurring symptoms. This pilot research explores effectiveness of a novel intervention, Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, for treatment of PTSD and associated symptoms and problems, including depression, dissociation, somatization, affect dysregulation, and disrupted self-perception (i.e. shame/guilt) among adults exposed to multiple childhood trauma. Seventeen adults with PTSD and history of multiple childhood traumas participated in an uncontrolled trial of IFS, receiving 16, 90-min IFS sessions and completing four evaluations (pre-, mid-, and post-treatment, and 1-month follow-up) assessing PTSD symptoms and diagnosis, as well as multiple secondary outcomes (e.g., symptoms of depression, dissociation, and somatization, affect dysregulation, disrupted self-perception, interoceptive awareness, and self-compassion). Intent-to-treat analyses using multilevel growth curve modeling and examination of effect sizes demonstrated significant decreases in symptoms of PTSD (d = −4.46 and −3.05 as measured by the CAPS and DTS respectively), associated features of PTSD (e.g., total score on a measure of dissociation, somatization, affect dysregulation, self-perception; d = −1.27), and depression (d = −1.51) across the study period. A medium effect size in the expected direction was observed for self-compassion (d = .72). Small to large effect sizes in the expected direction were observed for multiple indicators of interoceptive awareness (range d = .27–1.21). Results provide preliminary support for IFS as a promising practice for the treatment of PTSD among adults with a history of childhood trauma.

Emotion Regulation Mediates Posttraumatic Growth and Cluster B Personality Traits After Childhood Trauma.

Cluster B personality disorder traits and positive psychological change, known as posttraumatic growth (PTG), are both possible outcomes following childhood trauma. However, existing research has not yet explored whether emotion regulation difficulties can simultaneously explain these negative and positive changes. A sample of childhood trauma survivors (N = 223) provided responses to an online survey, with findings assessed using structural equation modeling techniques. Emotion regulation difficulties were found to mediate between childhood trauma severity and cluster B traits (ab cs = -.05), and between childhood trauma severity and PTG (abcs = .13), with small to medium indirect effects. The final model accounted for more variance in cluster B traits (56%) than PTG (10%). Emotion regulation is therefore a key mediator of positive and negative psychological changes and should be the focus of intervention efforts among childhood trauma survivors.

Speaking with the Dead: The Sick Chick and the Psychic Crypt in Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Abstract This paper explores Gail Honeyman’s 2017 novel Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine from the perspective of Abraham and Torok’s concept of the psychic crypt. On one level the protagonist Eleanor, a thirty-year-old urban single woman searching for love, resembles a chick-lit heroine; however, Eleanor is deeply lonely, apparently autistic, suicidal and a survivor of childhood abuse and trauma. The paper argues that Eleanor’s difficulties can be understood as the consequences of encryptment which, in Abraham and Torok’s terms, is a disease of mourning where the dead loved one is incorporated rather than introjected into the psyche.

Grief tending through the wilderness: toward a poetic consciousness for adult survivors of childhood trauma

ABSTRACT In this article, my approach to grief tending for the adult survivor of childhood trauma is to integrate a practice of poetic inquiry into one’s evolving relationship with oneself. As has been well documented by trauma theory, arts-based practices, here working strictly with poetry, are capable of embracing the often non-linear and multi-layered realities of our emotional woundings that are carried with us throughout our lives. By forging pathways through the wilderness of grief with poetic modes of inquiry and exploration, I suggest that we are able to shift healing work toward creative and empowering survivor-centred practices.

The impact of childhood trauma on children's wellbeing and adult behavior

BackgroundThis article looks at the impact of childhood trauma on children's wellbeing and adult behavior from the perspective of 9 clinical professionals in Ireland. It exhibits how physical, sexual and emotional abuse disrupts one's life through analyzing coping strategies and behaviors adopted by childhood trauma victims following adversity exposure. ObjectivesTo examine if coping mechanisms such as denial, self- isolation, drug and alcohol abuse are associated with childhood trauma survivors. Correspondingly, this research investigates if symptoms related to depression and anxiety, sleep disturbance and low self-esteem are consequences of childhood trauma. The final objective explores possible correlations between resilience capacity and social class background. Upon this selection, the authors acknowledge that consequences and post-trauma symptoms can vary depending on numerous factors, including the type of abuse endured by victims. MethodsParticipants were recruited through convenience selection and snowball sampling. Individuals worked in social care, counselling, psychotherapy, psychology and support work. Seven females and two males participated in recorded semi-structured interviews. Six interviews were carried out via phone call and three were conducted face-to-face. Participants shared experiences about their client-based interactions. Participants were assigned a pseudonym to protect their identity. ResultsWithin this study, childhood trauma survivors present alcohol and drug dependency issues, deny the negative impact their adversities have on their wellbeing (especially if it was inflicted by their parents), and construct a false self-image to cope rather than self-isolate. Early onset of trauma may contrive a low self-esteem and depression and anxiety can surface due to feelings of inadequacy. Sleep disturbance did not appear as a consequence of childhood trauma in this study. Social class was not an influential factor in mediating the type of traumatic experiences faced by individuals from different backgrounds. Financial circumstances did however, present as significant in impacting support-service availability. Interventions, treatment plans and social support emerged as crucial in enhancing resilience levels, reversing the onset of problematic behavior and psychiatric conditions. ConclusionChildhood trauma victims exhibit low self-esteem, and experience depression and anxiety. Some deny their trauma history, while others create a false self-image and engage in alcohol and drug misuse in attempts to prevent their traumatic experiences from impacting their life. Early interventions may reduce trauma symptoms alongside sufficient and customized treatment strategies.

Clinical effects of mindfulness-based interventions for adults with a history of childhood maltreatment: a scoping review.

Survivors of childhood maltreatment are at high risk for developing complex psychiatric disorders. Traditional treatments, including psychopharmacology, tend to be less efficacious for this population. This scoping review aimed to discuss existing empirical studies on the effects of mindfulness-based interventions for adult childhood trauma survivors, as well as the documented clinical challenges and adaptations for this population. We reviewed 17 research articles that measured the effects of mindfulness-based interventions for adults with childhood maltreatment histories. These studies showed that mindfulness-based interventions can be beneficial for childhood maltreatment survivors to alleviate psychological symptoms including stress, anxiety, recurrent depression, substance use, and post-traumatic stress. Studies had a wide range of methodological quality and reported a broad range of effect sizes. The wide variety of outcome measures and control conditions made it difficult to compare across studies. Mindfulness-based interventions can be beneficial for addressing psychopathology among adults with childhood maltreatment histories, although some adaptations can be necessary to address possible challenges this population are likely to encounter. More research is needed to specifically evaluate the clinical effects among childhood maltreatment survivors and to directly compare the effects among those with and without childhood maltreatment histories.

Core Self, Sense of Self, and Whole Self: The Potential for Harm in Using Personality Disorder Diagnoses

This article explores how the use of personality disorder diagnoses can contribute to the pathologizing of trauma and distress and result in labeling and the subsequent marginalization of survivors of childhood trauma. The author considers the theory and practice of transactional analysis (TA) and how TA practitioners may collude with these norms. An alternative framework for working with people diagnosed with a personality disorder is proposed. The author identifies the value of clarifying the term self within transactional analysis theory, using the model of self and ego developed by Cox to map concepts of self proposed by Berne. Using case material from a TA-based therapeutic community, the author demonstrates how differentiating between the concepts of core self, a sense of self, and whole self can aid resilience, recovery, and empowerment in people who have been diagnosed with personality disorders.

Musical Engagement is Linked to Posttraumatic Resilience: The Role of Gender, Personality, and Music Listening Styles After Childhood Trauma

Previous research on the links between music and posttraumatic resilience have typically relied on small sample sizes and case studies from clinical settings. To address this important gap, we conducted an online study to measure childhood trauma and adult musical engagement in everyday life in non-clinical contexts. The present study ( N = 634) investigated these links by administering online questionnaires about musical engagement, personality, and demographics to adult survivors of childhood trauma. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that social music listening predicted increased well-being in males while affective music listening predicted decreased well-being in males. Gender moderated the interaction between affective engagement and well-being: affective engagement was linked to increased well-being in females and a decrease in males. Furthermore, neuroticism moderated the interaction between narrative listening and well-being: narrative listening was linked to increased well-being for participants with low neuroticism and a decrease for those with high neuroticism. These findings may reflect general gender differences in coping styles: emotional reflection for females and emotional distraction for males, and suggest gender differences in attentional biases, rumination, and capacities for disassociation. Taken together, the results show that there are individual differences in musical engagement and posttraumatic resilience based on gender and personality. These findings are useful for the development of music-based coping strategies that mental health professionals can tailor for individual clients.

Left / Write // Hook: A mixed method study of a writing and boxing workshop for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and trauma

This article investigates how the combination of writing therapy and embodied empowerment, explored through the physical sport of non-contact boxing, can facilitate the recovery journeys of women survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and their move towards post-traumatic growth. It uses established quantitative psychological measurements and qualitative analytical approaches to examine the impact of an eight-week boxing and writing workshop for female survivors of CSA, called Left/Write//Hook (LWH), on participants’ recovery journeys. The hypothesis was that the LWH workshops would contribute to participants’ recovery and wellbeing. The article reports on the pilot study of the workshops as one aspect of an ongoing research project around LWH which uses concurrent, triangulation mixed methods design to gather and analyze qualitative audio-visual and creative-writing data produced by the women, alongside quantitative psychological assessment data. The findings of qualitative analyses of the participants’ creative writing and the quantitative psychological assessments of the impact of the LWH workshops on participants’ assertiveness, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, wellbeing, depression, anxiety and stress, along with preliminary findings of filmed material are presented and discussed in this article. The findings supported the hypothesis that the LWH workshops helped facilitate participants’ recovery journeys and supported their wellbeing. This article offers preliminary support for the argument that the dual approach of written/verbal and embodied creativity can enhance the wellbeing of survivors of sexual abuse and trauma.