Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy最新文献

Objective: The goal of this study was to (a) examine the association between childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder (CB-PTSD) symptoms and possible risk factors of previous trauma, individual characteristics (neuroticism, anxiety sensitivity, and resilience), type of birth, and birth satisfaction and (b) explore whether birth satisfaction moderates any association between individual characteristics and CB-PTSD symptoms.

Method: This was a longitudinal questionnaire study during pregnancy and postpartum. Pregnant women (N = 396) were recruited from antenatal clinics and completed questionnaires during mid-late pregnancy (Time 1) and 6-12 weeks after childbirth (Time 2). Time 1 questionnaires measured anxiety sensitivity (Anxiety Sensitivity Index), neuroticism (International Personality Item Pool-50, Neuroticism subscale), resilience (Brief Resilience Scale), and trauma history. Time 2 questionnaires measured birth satisfaction and CB-PTSD (Birth-Related and General Symptoms subscales).

Results: Regression analysis showed that previous sexual trauma, higher levels of neuroticism, and lower levels of birth satisfaction predicted higher levels of CB-PTSD symptoms. Anxiety sensitivity and resilience were not significant predictors of CB-PTSD. Additionally, birth satisfaction moderated the relationship between higher neuroticism and higher levels of CB-PTSD (total and general symptoms) and between lower resilience and higher CB-PTSD general symptoms. Effects were stronger when low birth satisfaction was reported.

Conclusions: Individual characteristics and birth satisfaction interact in the development of posttraumatic stress disorder following childbirth, with previous traumatic experiences playing an additional role. These findings can inform screening and care pathways for women at greater risk. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Empirical studies reveal that interpersonal violence victimization is a highly prevalent phenomena in youth and is associated with a host of difficulties, including mental, physical, and behavioral issues. Sleep, a developmentally fundamental process, is implicated in these unfavorable effects. Despite this, little is known about the interplay between interpersonal violence victimization, sleep, and mental health in adolescent girls, who are at greater risk of victimization, sleep problems, and mental health difficulties than boys.

Objective: The aim of the current study was to identify distinct patterns of sleep problems to understand how they are associated with interpersonal violence victimization and key mental health outcomes, namely dissociation and emotional dysregulation.

Method: Latent class analyses were conducted on a sample of 706 adolescent girls aged 14-18 (88% of Canadian descent), who completed an online survey.

Results: Three classes of sleep were identified: poor-, moderate-, and high-quality sleep. Controlling for posttraumatic stress disorder, classes were found to differ regarding childhood sexual abuse, community violence, and emotional abuse. In addition, exposure to community violence was associated with dissociation only among girls in the poor-quality sleep class, indicating a moderation effect of sleep.

Conclusion: The findings of this study, while awaiting replication with a more diverse sample, highlight the continued need to understand the interplay between interpersonal violence and sleep quality, which can help to inform trauma-focused clinical interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: This study aimed to examine whether mothers' level of trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are related to their offspring's cognitive functioning.

Method: Mothers exposed to the 1994 genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi (N = 181) and one of their adult offspring were recruited in Rwanda. Mothers and their offspring answered questionnaires on sociodemographic information, the level of trauma exposure, and PTSD symptoms. They also performed a backward digit span task and a similarity task to assess their working memory and abstract reasoning, respectively. Hierarchical regression models were used to analyze the data.

Results: Mothers' level of trauma exposure, but not PTSD symptoms, was significantly related to their offspring's abstract reasoning performance after controlling for offspring's age, sex, and economic status. The relationship between mothers' level of trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms, and their offspring's working memory performance was not significant. Offspring's education was significantly linked to their working memory and abstract reasoning performance.

Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that the intergenerational transmission of trauma can impact the cognitive functioning of the next generation. These results also illustrate the profound and long-term human impact of mass violence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: The transition to motherhood carries the potential for experiencing mental distress alongside positive mental changes such as personal growth. This study sought to expand the scarce knowledge regarding the trajectories of personal growth in the transition to motherhood and to identify multiple patterns of growth and their predictors, such as undergoing fertility treatments, emotion regulation abilities, and background variables.

Method: Four hundred three pregnant nulliparous women were recruited through social media and completed self-report questionnaires in three phases: during the second half of their pregnancy, 3 months after the birth of their first child, and 6 months after childbirth. Latent class growth analyses and growth mixture modeling were used to identify latent subgroups of the trajectory of growth. Stepwise multinomial regression models were used to identify significant predictors of personal growth trajectories.

Results: We identified three trajectories that reflect an increase in personal growth with different starting points and slopes, and one trajectory with a quadratic effect. Age, economic status, physical health, undergoing fertility treatments, impulse control, and emotion regulation strategies differentiated between the different growth patterns.

Conclusions: The study expands the knowledge regarding the heterogeneity of personal growth trajectories in the transition to motherhood and suggests that certain characteristics may predict the chances of developing in certain pathways rather than in others. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: The empirical literature indicates that positive emotional avoidance may play a role in the maintenance and development of posttraumatic stress disorder. While some research has surfaced on posttraumatic stress reactions to racism and/or discrimination, researchers have yet to examine if research findings on emotional avoidance and posttraumatic stress disorder extend to racial trauma. To this end, we examined whether there was a moderating effect of racial trauma symptom severity on the relationship between positive emotional intensity and positive emotional avoidance.

Method: A total of 216 individuals of color were recruited via Prolific (M_age = 33.1 years; 51.3% male; 30.6% Asian, 32.9% African American, 36.6% Latine). A multiple regression model was utilized to explore whether the relationship between positive emotional intensity and positive emotional avoidance depended on racial trauma severity.

Results: There was a significant interaction between positive emotional intensity and racial trauma severity on positive emotional avoidance. The simple slopes analysis showed a significant negative association between positive emotional intensity and positive emotional avoidance when participants endorsed low and moderate (but not high) levels of racial trauma symptom severity. Positive emotional avoidance was the highest at high levels of racial trauma regardless of positive emotional intensity.

Conclusion: Individuals with more severe racial trauma may utilize strategies to avoid positive emotions regardless of positive emotional intensity while individuals with low or moderate race-based traumatic stress avoid low intensity positive emotions more than high intensity positive emotions. These results highlight the importance of addressing positive emotional avoidance in interventions designed to reduce the severity of racial trauma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Given the absence of a validated Polish method for assessing childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder (CB-PTSD) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, we aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the City Birth Trauma Scale (City BiTS-PL) and investigate its latent factor structure and the links with sensory processing sensitivity and birth satisfaction.

Method: In a cross-sectional descriptive study, a sample of 296 mothers completed an online survey, which included the City BiTS-PL, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised, the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, and the questions about the sociodemographic and pregnancy/birth-related characteristics.

Results: The City BiTS-PL was found to have generally good measurement properties. In confirmatory factor analysis, the two-factor solution achieved the best fit out of the three tested models. The internal consistency was satisfactory for the subscales and the whole scale (Cronbach's α = .61-.91). Convergent validity with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised, and Highly Sensitive Person Scale and divergent validity testing indicated robust validity. The prevalence of CB-PTSD in our sample was 6.1%.

Conclusion: The City BiTS is a reliable and valid measure, but difficulties were observed during the analysis in fitting the scale to the models, especially in the context of fitting a four-factor model based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnostic criteria. Therefore, the tool should be considered as a screening, not a clinical, method. Sensory processing sensitivity is positively related to CB-PTSD, shedding light on the importance of temperamental sensitivity to the environment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: This cross-sectional study explored sex/gender differences in the associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and intimate partner violence (IPV) with mental health problems (i.e., attempted suicide and mental disorders), including whether sex/gender differences varied by race/ethnicity.

Method: Data were used from participants in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions in the United States of America (Wave II: 2004-2005). Logistic regressions tested associations between ACEs (i.e., child abuse, child neglect, and child household dysfunction) and IPV or cumulative trauma with mental health problems along with sex/gender and race/ethnicity interactions.

Results: Females who experienced child abuse or three to four cumulative traumas had greater odds of attempted suicide than males with the same experiences. Males who experienced IPV had greater odds of attempted suicide than females who experienced IPV. There were significant sex/gender differences in the associations between cumulative trauma and mental disorders (i.e., mood disorder, anxiety disorder, alcohol use disorder, and nicotine dependence), except posttraumatic stress disorder. For example, females with cumulative trauma had greater odds of substance use disorders. Many sex/gender differences in associations between ACEs and IPV or cumulative trauma with mental health problems varied by race/ethnicity. For example, child neglect was associated with greater odds of attempted suicide for non-Hispanic Black males (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 3.53 vs. AOR = 1.29 for females), whereas no sex/gender differences in this association were revealed for non-Hispanic White or Hispanic adults.

Conclusions: Findings show sex/gender differences in associations between trauma and mental health problems that vary by race/ethnicity and warrant further study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Global disasters' rising toll on participation in health-promoting activities (HPA) has been observed, especially for mothers with young children, who may face unique challenges postdisaster. This brief report examined perceived changes in participation in HPA and its supportive factors as perceived by mothers, following a terrorist attack disaster.

Method: Two hundred one mothers (age range = 20-58) of young children up to 12 years completed an online survey including sociodemographic data, exposure to disaster characteristics, participation in HPA, and social support measures. They also responded to an open-ended question regarding factors supporting their health needs and ability to participate in daily activities 1 month postdisaster.

Results: Most of the mothers who completed the survey reported decreased participation in HPA postdisaster. Disaster exposure correlated with perceived reductions in frequency and competence of participation. Social support moderated the effect of disaster exposure on reduced competence. Descriptive analysis revealed four themes: consequences of disaster exposure, external resources, life-role overload, and adaptive thinking to the situation.

Conclusions: Mothers with young children face postdisaster challenges impacting their HPA. Social support may serve as a protective factor, mitigating negative consequences of disaster exposure on perceived competence in participation. Results emphasize that interventions targeting maternal health postdisasters, highlighting the importance of social support, are imperative. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Childhood mistreatment (CM)/victimization, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and lifetime substance-use disorders (LT-SUD) are major behavioral health concerns. Their associations were established in mainstream populations but remain under-investigated in Latinx Americans. This study aimed to model the mediating effect of PTSD in the link between CM and LT-SUD among Latinx Americans.

Method: Using a nationally representative sample (N = 2,554) from the National Latinx and Asian American Study, three path models were performed for the whole-group, U.S.-born, and foreign-born Latinx (aged 18 or over), controlling for known predictors for Latinx' mental health.

Results: Latinx reported high rates of childhood physical (32%) and sexual (11.8%) abuse. Latinx subgroups significantly varied in educational attainment, LT-SUD, income, English proficiency, and self-reported discrimination. A fully constrained multiple group path analysis demonstrated direct effects of childhood physical mistreatment (CPM) and childhood sexual mistreatment to lifetime PTSD; PTSD significantly mediated the relationship between CPM with LT-SUD. No significant differences in path coefficients were observed among the Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican subgroups.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that CPM may contribute to using substance to avoid physical and emotional pain, which lends support for the self-medication hypothesis. Latinx who were traumatized by both physical and sexual abuse are more likely to use substances as a negative coping strategy. The study underscores the need for assessing the role of substance use as a coping mechanism for Latinx individuals who have experienced childhood traumatic victimization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Studies have suggested that women's history of childhood abuse is associated with the temperament of their children, as indicated by increased negative emotionality and decreased regulatory capacity. The aim of this study was to examine a model according to which the association between maternal childhood abuse and infant temperament would be mediated by women's self-objectification and sense of disrupted body boundaries.

Method: Four hundred forty women were recruited on a maternity ward within 48 hr of giving birth (Time 1). Of them, 295 (67.05%) participated in the second assessment, 3 months postpartum (Time 2). Participants' self-objectification and sense of body boundaries were assessed at Time 1. Maternal history of childhood abuse and infant temperament were assessed at Time 2.

Results: Structural equation modeling yielded two significant mediation effects: (a) the association between maternal history of childhood abuse and infant's negative emotionality was mediated by self-objectification, and (b) the association between maternal history of childhood abuse and infant's orienting/regulatory capacity was mediated by a sense of disrupted body boundaries.

Conclusions: This study highlights the significant influence of maternal self and body representations on infant temperament, suggesting that these factors may be relevant for clinical interventions with mothers with a history of childhood abuse to support their children's well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).