Attachment and Human Development
Volume 18, Issue 1, 2016, Pages 69-89

The transmission of trauma in refugee families: associations between intra-family trauma communication style, children’s attachment security and psychosocial adjustment (Article)

Dalgaard N.T.* , Todd B.K. , Daniel S.I.F. , Montgomery E.
  • a Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • b Psychology Department, School of Social Sciences, City University London, London, United Kingdom
  • c Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • d DIGNITY-Danish Institute Against Torture, Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

This study explores the transmission of trauma in 30 Middle Eastern refugee families in Denmark, where one or both parents were referred for treatment of PTSD symptoms and had non-traumatized children aged 4–9 years. The aim of the study was to explore potential risk and protective factors by examining the association between intra-family communication style regarding the parents’ traumatic experiences from the past, children’s psychosocial adjustment and attachment security. A negative impact of parental trauma on children might be indicated, as children’s Total Difficulties Scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were significantly higher than the Danish norms. A negative association between children’s attachment security as measured by the Attachment and Traumatization Story Task and higher scores on the SDQ Total Difficulties Scale approached significance, suggesting that the transmission of trauma may be associated with disruptions in children’s attachment representations. Furthermore a significant association between parental trauma communication and children’s attachment style was found. © 2015 Taylor & Francis.

Author Keywords

Transgenerational transmission of trauma Refugee children Mental health intra-family trauma communication attachment security

Index Keywords

Parents refugee Communication interpersonal communication mental health human epidemiology Refugees Middle East Denmark object relation Interview, Psychological Object Attachment Adaptation, Psychological ethnology qualitative research Humans psychology parent psychological interview male preschool child female Child, Preschool adaptive behavior Parent-Child Relations posttraumatic stress disorder Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic child parent relation Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85027928156&doi=10.1080%2f14616734.2015.1113305&partnerID=40&md5=8585ec16a1f74d165d87598a00e8166d
DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2015.1113305
ISSN: 14616734
Cited by: 29
Original Language: English