1-197 - Toward Developmentally-Informed Trauma Treatment: Examining the Influences of Family Context in Trauma and Maltreatment Research

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Current clinical practice with children and families who have experienced maltreatment and trauma emphasizes evidence-based practices and a trauma-informed approach. The field of developmental science can bring much to bear on the knowledge and evidence that shape these professional practices and, in turn, on the developmental outcomes of traumatized youth. In particular, a more nuanced understanding is needed of the influence of multiple risk factors and forms of violence (e.g., abuse and neglect, domestic violence, intergenerational trauma, complex trauma) within the family context on children’s development. Drawing on a range of sample populations and incorporating multiple disciplinary perspectives (clinical psychology, human development, psychiatry, public health, social work, biostatistics) and representation from a variety of ethnic and international backgrounds, these papers examine the influence of family context in the outcomes of maltreatment and trauma at different developmental periods and across generations.

The first paper, using a large, longitudinal, representative sample of families living in rural communities, examines intergenerational pathways from maternal childhood sexual trauma to the behavioral development of their offspring. The second paper, using a large national clinical dataset of traumatized children, addresses the role of impaired caregiving (i.e., parental mental health or substance use problems) in the antecedents and sequelae of complex trauma. The third paper examines factors associated with parent-directed aggression in a sample drawn from domestic violence shelters. Together, these papers contribute a developmental perspective to the growing empirical knowledge about and practice implications for working with children and families who have experienced trauma and maltreatment.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Karen Appleyard Carmody, Duke University

Discussant

• Abigail Gewirtz, University of Minnesota

Individual Presentations

• Maternal Childhood Sexual Trauma and Conduct Problems in Offspring: Multiple Pathways of Influence - Presenting Author: Bharathi Zvara, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill; Karen Appleyard Carmody, Duke University; William Roger Mills-Koonce, University of North Carolina Greensboro; Martha J Cox, Univ of North Carolina

• Examining the Relations among Complex Trauma, Impaired Caregiving, and Child Functioning using a Developmental Perspective - Presenting Author: Katelyn Marie Donisch, University of Minnesota; Abigail Gewirtz, University of Minnesota; Karen Appleyard Carmody, Duke University; Li-Jung Liang, University of California Los Angeles; Ernestine Briggs-King, Duke University; Joseph Spinazzola, Justice Resource Institute; Lisa Amaya-Jackson, Duke University; Alan M Steinberg, University of California, Los Angeles

• The Other Side of Domestic Violence: Parent-Directed Aggression and the Perpetrator-Victim Paradox - Presenting Author: Michelle P Brown, Univ of Minnesota; Canan Karatekin, Univ of Minnesota; Kaylan Wurm, University of Minnesota; Ham I Lee, University of Minnesota