Citation

Bachem R, Levin Y, Yuval K, Langer NK, Solomon Z, Bernstein A. Eur. J. Psychotraumatol. 2024; 15(1): e2300588.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, The Author(s), Publisher Co-action Publishing)

DOI

10.1080/20008066.2023.2300588

PMID

38190253

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Traumatic stress among forcibly displaced people has a variety of adverse consequences beyond individual mental health, including implications for poor socioemotional developmental outcomes for their children post-displacement.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the intergenerational transmission of maternal ICD-11 Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) and depression among asylum-seeking mothers for their children's internalizing and externalizing difficulties.

METHOD: Participants were 127 trauma-affected Eritrean mothers of preschool-aged children in Israel. The severity of child difficulties was compared between mothers with probable ICD-11 CPTSD (94.5% comorbid depression), ICD-11 PTSD (48.5% comorbid depression), unimorbid depression, and healthy mothers, using multivariate analyses of variance, while controlling for children's direct exposure to adverse life experiences.

RESULTS: Probable ICD-11 CPTSD and PTSD were present in 23.6% and 26.0% of mothers, respectively. Relative to maternal PTSD, CPTSD was significantly and strongly associated with elevated child internalizing symptoms (d = 2.44) and marginally significantly, although strongly, associated with child externalizing symptoms (d = 1.30). Post-hoc exploratory analyses documented that, relative to maternal PTSD and depression, CPTSD and depression comorbidity was marginally significantly but strongly associated with child internalizing (SMD = .67), but not externalizing symptoms (SMD = .35).

CONCLUSIONS: Findings implicate maternal CPTSD and comorbid depression in child socio-emotional development and inform clinical assessment, prevention, and intervention to attenuate poor development among children in unstable post-displacement settings.

Language: en

Keywords

depression; Asylum-seekers; child socio-emotional development; complex posttraumatic stress disorder; depresión; desarrollo infantil socioemocional; intergenerational trauma transmission; Solicitante de asilo; transmisión intergeneracional del trauma; trastorno de estrés postraumático complejo