![]() ![]() ![]() Treatment outcomes for childhood problems are improved when parents are involved.Ī third reason to involve parents more fully in trauma treatments concerns the impact of such involvement of treatment outcomes. As a result, children’s whose parent(s) were previously traumatized are more likely to experience trauma symptoms following exposure to trauma than children of parents who without histories of trauma (Nader, 1998).ģ. Moreover, caregivers with a history of unresolved trauma are likely to be particularly unequipped to help their children manage and regulate their distress and adapt successfully to potentially traumatic events. ![]() For example, after a natural disaster, separation from parents, maternal preoccupation and altered family functioning were more predictive of symptom development than were exposure to trauma or loss. There is agreement in the trauma literature that family functioning is important in both the development of symptoms and the outcome of the traumatized child. Caregiver functioning has a considerable impact on children’s ability to cope with potentially traumatic events. Intergenerational patterns of trauma transmission have also been found among victims of sexual abuse, with children of sexually abused parents more likely to themselves be victims of a sexually abusive trauma due to parents’ latent cooperation with the abuser or blindness to the dangers of situations to which they expose their children (Lev-Wiesel, 2006).Ģ. Processes of intergenerational trauma transmission were first studied among children of victims of the holocaust. In addition to deficits in parenting, unresolved trauma in caregivers heightens risk that their children will themselves be exposed to traumatic events. As children get older, these parents are more likely to have developmentally inappropriate expectations of their children, to be harsh with their children and to interpret child misbehaviour as intentional. Childhood experiences of abuse and neglect are related to deficits in maternal sensitivity and responsiveness and to the development of insecure and disorganized infant attachment (Cicchetti et al., 2006). Research has clearly demonstrated that elevated trauma symptoms in adults are related to deficits in parenting. Caregivers suffering from unresolved trauma may unintentionally act out this distress on their children, increasing child vulnerability to problem behavior and symptoms, and risk for exposure to trauma. There are a number of good reasons to pursue such a model of treatment: Unresolved Trauma in Caregiversġ. ![]() Hence, caregivers are involved throughout each session of the ITTM (unless otherwise indicated). The current study examines a model of treatment of childhood trauma that focuses first on interrupting intergenerational transmissions of trauma through education and treatment of children’s caregivers’ unresolved traumatic events from their own childhood, and then on dyadic treatment of child trauma where caretakers are placed in the expert role with respect to their child. Treatments are typically centered on the child, with the parent involved peripherally and/or optionally in education programs on trauma and on their children’s ongoing progress in treatment. As a result, intergenerational cycles of trauma are unintentionally promoted within the family (Cicchetti et al., 2006 Hughes, 2003 Leifer et al., 2004 Sroufe, 1996 Wiseman et al., 2006).Īlthough there are a number of empirically validated treatment models for children exposed to specific traumatic events, these models generally fail to address intergenerational patterns of trauma transmission. Ironically, these adult outcomes are, in turn, related to greater risk of trauma for the next generation (Whitfield et al., 2003). Trauma is related to behavioural and emotional difficulties in children (Fletcher, 2003) and to the later development of a variety of adult disorders, including depression, anxiety, health problems and antisocial behaviours (Felitti et al., 1998 Widom et al., 1997 Widom et al., 2006). Traumatic experiences in childhood have well-documented negative impacts on child development. ![]()
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