Intergenerational Transmission of Ethnoracial Historical Trauma in the United States.

Throughout time, ethnoracial groups have endured a range of traumatic experiences as historically marginalized members of the United States. The consequences of these experiences have been referred to as historical trauma (HT): a collective trauma, inflicted on a group of people who share a specific identity, that has psychological, physical, and social impacts on succeeding generations. In this review, we examine the literature on HT in relation to US ethnoracial groups by defining HT, providing a background for its development, and describing critiques of the concept. We then review the literature on HT in relation to Indigenous Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans. For each group, we address the nature of HT, the transmission of HT and its impacts, and healing strategies. We conclude with a summary of the benefits, limitations, and complexities of HT research as well as recommendations for future work in this area.

Associations among maternal lifetime trauma, psychological symptoms in pregnancy, and infant stress reactivity and regulation.

Maternal trauma has intergenerational implications, including worse birth outcomes, altered brain morphology, and poorer mental health. Research investigating intergenerational effects of maternal trauma on infant stress reactivity and regulation is limited. Maternal mental health during pregnancy may be a contributor: psychopathology is a sequela of trauma exposure and predictor of altered self-regulatory capacity in offspring of affected mothers. We assessed associations among maternal lifetime trauma and infant stress responsivity, mediated by psychological symptoms in pregnancy. Mothers reported lifetime trauma history and anxiety, depressive, and posttraumatic stress symptoms during pregnancy. At infant age 6 months, stress reactivity and regulation were assessed via maternal behavior ratings (Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised, IBQ-R) and behavioral (negative mood) and physiological (respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) markers during a laboratory stressor (Still-Face Paradigm). Maternal trauma was directly associated with lower infant physiological regulation and indirectly associated with lower levels of both infant behavioral and physiological regulation via higher maternal anxiety during pregnancy. Maternal trauma was also indirectly associated with higher infant reactivity via higher maternal anxiety during pregnancy. Post hoc analyses indicated differential contributions of maternal prenatal versus postnatal anxiety to infant outcomes. Findings highlight potential contributory mechanisms toward maladaptive child stress response, which has been associated with poor behavioral, cognitive, and academic outcomes.

Clinically relevant historical trauma sequelae: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this systematic review (SR) was to present the current state of research on historical trauma, and the topics closely related to its semantic space that include intergenerational trauma, collective trauma, and extended cultural bodily and mental responses, in order to identify gaps in the literature that need to be addressed. METHODS: A search of empirical studies from 1990 to 2022 was performed via Scopus, Web of Science, MEDLINE, EBSCOhost-PsychInfo, and Embase, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist. RESULTS: The initial search yielded 1012 studies, 52 of which were included in the current review. The results show that the historical trauma concept has a high potential for new research in the field of Global Mental Health. Gaps in the literature were identified, including a lack of standard features of historical trauma, and assessments of historical trauma in additional contexts than its original fields of application with Indigenous Americans. CONCLUSION: Although the introduction of the concept of historical trauma was intended to fill the gap of trauma-related difficulties not covered by the criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this concept needs further scientific refinement.

Childhood maltreatment history and trauma-specific predictors of parenting stress in new fathers.

For new fathers, parenting stress is a risk factor for impaired early parenting and child maltreatment perpetration. Predictors of parenting stress, including fathers' own experiences of trauma, could be useful intervention targets to support new fathers. We aim to examine associations between new fathers' own histories of child maltreatment, and their perinatal mental health, relationships, and parenting stress. We recruited 298 first-time fathers for a survey that measured child maltreatment history, trauma sequelae including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), interpersonal reactivity, substance use, anger expression, coparenting quality, and parenting stress. On the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) (from 36 to 180), bivariate analysis demonstrated that new fathers who experienced child maltreatment (n = 94) had significantly higher parenting stress (x̅ = 85.3, σ = 18.7) than those who did not (n = 204; x̅ = 76.0, σ = 16.6; P < .000). Hierarchical linear regression modeling indicated that a child maltreatment history, PTSD, and MDD were significantly associated with parenting stress. The strongest predictors of parenting stress were coparenting quality and complex trauma sequelae-interpersonal reactivity and anger expression. Interventions to reduce fathers' parenting stress by targeting known mental health and relationship sequelae of maltreatment are promising avenues to breaking intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment and psychiatric vulnerability.

Para nuevos papás, el estrés de crianza es un factor de riesgo para la deficiente crianza temprana y para cometer maltrato infantil. Los factores de predicción del estrés de crianza, incluyendo las propias experiencias de trauma de los papás, pueden ser útiles metas de intervención para apoyar a los nuevos papás. Nos propusimos examinar las asociaciones entre las propias historias de maltrato de los nuevos papás, y su salud mental perinatal, relaciones y estrés de crianza. Reclutamos 298 papás primerizos para una encuesta que medía la historia de maltrato infantil, la secuela de trauma incluyendo el trastorno de estrés postraumático (PTSD), el trastorno depresivo serio (MDD), la reactividad interpersonal, el uso de sustancias, la expresión de ira, la calidad de la crianza compartida, así como el estrés de crianza. En el Índice de Estrés de Crianza (de 36-180), los análisis bivariantes demostraron que los nuevos papás que habían experimentado maltrato infantil (N = 94) tenían significativamente un mayor estrés de crianza (x̅ = 85.3, σ = 18.7) que aquellos que no habían tenido tal experiencia (N = 204; x̅ = 76.0, σ = 16.6; P<.000). El modelo de regresión lineal jerárquica indicó que una historia de maltrato infantil, PTSD y MDD estaban significativamente asociados con el estrés de crianza. Los más fuertes factores de predicción del estrés de crianza fueron la calidad de la crianza compartida y la compleja secuela de trauma-la reactividad interpersonal y la expresión de la ira. Las intervenciones para reducir el estrés de crianza de los papás por medio del enfoque en la salud mental conocida y las secuelas en la relación del maltrato son una vía prometedora para romper la transmisión intergeneracional del maltrato infantil y la vulnerabilidad siquiátrica.

Pour les nouveaux pères le stress de parentage est un facteur de risque pour le parentage précoce compromis et la perpétration de maltraitance de l'enfant. Les prédicteurs de stress de parentage, y compris les propres expériences de trauma des pères, pourraient être des cicles d'intervention utiles afin de soutenir les nouveaux pères. Nous nous sommes donné pour but d'examiner les liens entre le propre passé de maltraitance de l'enfant des nouveaux pères et leur santé mentale périnatale, leurs relations et le stress de parentage. Nous avons recruté 298 nouveaux pères (pères pour la première fois) pour un sondage mesurant l'histoire de la maltraitance de l'enfant, les séquelles de trauma y compris les troubles de stress post-traumatique (TSPT), les troubles dépressifs majeurs (MDD en anglais), la réactivité interpersonnelle, la toxicomanie, l'expression de colère et la qualité du co-parentage ainsi que le stress parental. Pour l'Index de Stress de Parentage (de 36-180), une analyse bivariée a montré que les nouveaux pères qui avaient fait l'expérience de maltraitance de l'enfance (N = 94) avaient un stress de parentage bien plus élevé (x̅ = 85,3, σ = 18,7) que ceux n'en ayant pas fait l'expérience (N = 204; x̅ = 76,0, σ = 16,6; P<,000). Un modèle de régression linéaire hiérarchique a indiqué qu'un passé de maltraitance de l'enfant, le TSPT et le MDD étaient fortement liés au stress de parentage. Les facteurs de prédiction les plus forts de stress de parentage étaient la qualité du co-parentage et les séquelles de trauma complexes - réactivité interpersonnelle et l'expression de la colère. Les interventions pour réduire le stress de parentage des pères en ciblant la santé mentale connue et les séquelles de maltraitance sont un chemin prometteur pour casser la transmission intergénérationnelle de la maltraitance de l'enfant et la vulnérabilité psychiatrique.

The Impact of Parent Torture and Family Functioning on Youth Adjustment in War-Affected Families: A Path Analysis Describing Intergenerational Trauma and the Family System.

The direct exposure to physical or psychological trauma from torture or war leads to well-documented individual health consequences. Less understood are the inclusive and intergenerational effects of war trauma on family systems and youth adjustment. The purpose was to examine mechanisms in war-affected families that explained the significant emotional and behavioral consequences of intergenerational trauma in youth through the use of multiple methods. Quantitative assessments of maternal and paternal caregivers and youth characterized associations between parent torture, parent mental health distress, parent physical health problems, family functioning, and youth adjustment. Narrative statements further contextualized processes through which the trauma of a parent impacted youth and family systems. The research was conducted in partnership with local, refugee-serving community-based organizations. The study sample included parents and youth in 96 Karen families, originating from Burma in Southeast Asia, who had been resettled to the United States through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Path analysis results indicated that parent torture (ß = -0.173) had statistically significant negative direct effects on youth adjustment. Parent torture had a negative indirect effect on youth adjustment through the mental health (ß = -0.345) and physical health problems of parents (ß = -0.305), and youth gender (ß = 0.126) and trauma exposure of youth (ß = -0.048). Family functioning type demonstrated a positive direct effect on youth adjustment (ß = 0.449). Family type had an indirect effect on youth adjustment through youth gender (ß = 0.142), youth trauma exposure (ß = -0.165), parent physical health problems (ß = -0.202), and parent mental health (ß = 0.509). The current study developed and tested the first model of intergenerational trauma's effects on the adjustment of Karen refugee youth. Results emphasize that individual recovery from torture must be accompanied by adjunct interventions focused on family systems and youth adjustment, to holistically address intergenerational sequala of trauma.

Refusing epigenetics: indigeneity and the colonial politics of trauma.

Environmental epigenetics is increasingly employed to understand the health outcomes of communities who have experienced historical trauma and structural violence. Epigenetics provides a way to think about traumatic events and sustained deprivation as biological "exposures" that contribute to ill-health across generations. In Australia, some Indigenous researchers and clinicians are embracing epigenetic science as a framework for theorising the slow violence of colonialism as it plays out in intergenerational legacies of trauma and illness. However, there is dispute, contention, and caution as well as enthusiasm among these research communities.In this article, we trace strategies of "refusal" (Simpson, 2014) in response to epigenetics in Indigenous contexts. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Australia with researchers and clinicians in Indigenous health, we explore how some construct epigenetics as useless knowledge and a distraction from implementing anti-colonial change, rather than a tool with which to enact change. Secondly, we explore how epigenetics narrows definitions of colonial harm through the optic of molecular trauma, reproducing conditions in which Indigenous people are made intelligible through a lens of "damaged" bodies. Faced with these two concerns, many turn away from epigenetics altogether, refusing its novelty and supposed benefit for Indigenous health equity and resisting the pull of postgenomics.

Parental post-traumatic stress and psychiatric care utilisation among refugee adolescents.

Parental psychiatric morbidity related to experiences of war and trauma has been associated with adverse psychological outcomes for children. The aim of this study was to investigate parental post-traumatic stress in relation to psychiatric care utilization among children of refugees with particular attention on the child's own refugee status, sex of both child and parents, and specific psychiatric diagnoses. This was a register study in a population of 16 143 adolescents from refugee families in Stockholm County born 1995-2000 and followed between 2011 and 2017 (11-18 years old). Parental post-traumatic stress, identified in three levels of care, was analysed in relation to child and adolescent psychiatric care use. Cox regression analysis was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for duration of residence and demographic and socioeconomic variables. Having a mother with post-traumatic stress was associated with higher psychiatric care utilization, with adjusted HR 2.44 (95% CI 1.90-3.14) among foreign-born refugee children and HR 1.77 (1.33-2.36) among Swedish-born children with refugee parents, with particularly high risks for children with less than five years of residence (HR 4.03; 2.29-7.10) and for diagnoses of anxiety and depression (HR 2.71; 2.11-3.48). Having a father with post-traumatic stress was not associated with increased HRs of psychiatric care utilization. Similar results were seen for boys and girls. Treatment for post-traumatic stress should be made available in refugee reception programmes. These programmes should use a family approach that targets both parents and children.

Global Public Health Nursing.

BACKGROUND: An often under addressed and tragic legacy of genocide is the conception of children from rape. While the experience has been documented from their mothers' perspective, the perspectives and needs of individuals born of genocidal rape has been under-studied. METHODS: We conducted an integrative review of all peer-reviewed articles that reported on studies conducted among individuals born of genocidal rape published through 2020. We used an inductive process to identify and describe the themes from those studies. RESULTS: Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Ten articles reported on youth born of genocidal rape in Rwanda aged between 16 and 21 years, and two articles represented the perspective of adolescents in the former Yugoslavia aged 1416 years. Four themes were indentified: (1) birth origin stories associated with the crime of the father, (2) fractured sense of belonging to the victim-mother, perpetrator-father, their families, and the community at large, (3) intergenerational legacy of trauma and family identity, and (4) strategies to move forward including knowing the truth about one's origin, mental health, and peer support. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that understanding increased risk of adverse health outcomes of youth born of genocidal rape could inform the design of evidence-based interventions for these and similar populations.

Dissociation Links Maternal History Of Childhood Abuse To Impaired parenting.

The present study investigated dissociation as a predictor of parenting and a potential mediator in the relationship between early life maltreatment (ELM) and impaired parenting. Mothers reporting moderate to severe sexual and/or physical abuse (assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) formed the maltreatment group (n = 58; MG) and were compared to a non-maltreated comparison group (n = 61; CG) 5 months (T1) and 12 months (T2) postpartum. Dissociative symptoms were assessed with the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) at T1. Parenting was investigated by self-report questionnaires and behavior observation (Emotional Availability Scales; EA) at T2. Higher dissociation scores significantly predicted more self-reported parental bonding impairment and stress, higher physical abuse risk and less observed maternal sensitivity, non-intrusiveness and a lower total EA-score during mother-child interactions (p < .001 to p < .05). Dissociation mediated the associations between ELM and self-reported parenting, but not the associations between ELM and parenting as observed during mother-child interactions. Our results suggest that maternal dissociative symptoms play a distinct role in the intergenerational transmission of adverse childhood experiences and should therefore be targeted in therapeutic interventions provided for victims of physical/sexual childhood abuse and in preventive family programs.

Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families to Stay Together from the Start (SAFeST Start): Urgent call to action to address crisis in infant removals.

Reducing the rate of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care (OOHC) is a key Closing the Gap target committed to by all Australian governments. Current strategies are failing. The "gap" is widening, with the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in OOHC at 30 June 2020 being 11 times that of non-Indigenous children. Approximately, one in five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children entering OOHC each year are younger than one year. These figures represent compounding intergenerational trauma and institutional harm to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities. This article outlines systemic failures to address the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents during pregnancy and following birth, causing cumulative harm and trauma to families, communities and cultures. Major reform to child and family notification and service systems, and significant investment to address this crisis, is urgently needed. The Family Matters Building Blocks and five elements of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (Prevention, Participation, Partnership, Placement and Connection) provide a transformative foundation to address historical, institutional, well-being and socioeconomic drivers of current catastrophic trajectories. The time for action is now.

Paternal adverse childhood experiences: Associations with infant DNA methylation.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), or cumulative childhood stress exposures, such as abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction, predict later health problems in both the exposed individuals and their offspring. One potential explanation suggests exposure to early adversity predicts epigenetic modification, especially DNA methylation (DNAm), linked to later health. Stress experienced preconception by mothers may associate with DNAm in the next generation. We hypothesized that fathers' exposure to ACEs also associates with their offspring DNAm, which, to our knowledge, has not been previously explored. An epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) of blood DNAm (n = 45) from 3-month-old infants was regressed onto fathers' retrospective ACEs at multiple Cytosine-phosphate-Guanosine (CpG) sites to discover associations. This accounted for infants' sex, age, ethnicity, cell type proportion, and genetic variability. Higher ACE scores associated with methylation values at eight CpGs. Post-hoc analysis found no contribution of paternal education, income, marital status, and parental postpartum depression, but did with paternal smoking and BMI along with infant sleep latency. These same CpGs also contributed to the association between paternal ACEs and offspring attention problems at 3 years. Collectively, these findings suggested there were biological associations with paternal early life adversity and offspring DNAm in infancy, potentially affecting offspring later childhood outcomes.

Intergenerational Trauma and Its Relationship to Mental Health Care: A Qualitative Inquiry.

Intergenerational trauma is a discrete form of trauma which occurs when traumatic effects are passed across generations without exposure to the original event. This qualitative study aimed to explore how psychiatrists understand intergenerational trauma in respect to their practice, for the purposes of identifying interventions for addressing intergenerational trauma in public mental health services. Findings revealed that psychiatrists observe intergenerational trauma frequently in their roles and try to opportunistically promote awareness of trauma with adults, and refer families to external services for supportive interventions. They feel powerless when faced with directly intervening with intergenerational trauma and required restructuring of their roles to adequately address it in public settings. Findings have implications for training, advocacy and research on the relationship between trauma and mental illness. Alongside this, there is an indicated need for examination of how systems can ensure access to appropriate services once organisations become trauma-informed.

Traumatic Experiences of the Living Disappeared in Argentina: A Review.

Between 1976 and 1983, in Argentina, among the 30,000 individuals kidnapped and killed by armed forces, several pregnant women delivered their children in captivity, who were illegally adopted by families with close military ties. To date, 130 of these children have been identified (named Living Disappeared, LDs) and reunited with their biological families. The aim of this review was to analyze the peculiarity of their traumatic experiences the specific factors of trauma resolution. We conducted a comprehensive search of the articles that specifically deal with Argentinean LDs. Fifteen records met the inclusion criteria. Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and traumatic memories were reported by LDs, both after and before learning the truth; the processing of trauma was found to be facilitated by verbalizing traumatic experiences, listening to others' narratives, and recognizing the belonging to a political community. The pathogenic relevance of the early exposure to trauma, the climate of lies, secrets, and doubts which characterized the life with the illegally adoptive parents and the conflict between two identities have been found. The findings come out on the side of the influence of the context in trauma resolution.

Family Therapy and COVID-19: International Reflections during the Pandemic from Systemic Therapists across the Globe.

The COVID-19 pandemic has convulsed human communities across the globe like no previous event in history. Family therapists, paradoxically, given the core of their work is with systems, are also experiencing upheaval in professional and personal lives, trying to work amidst a society in chaos. This paper offers a collection of reflections by systemic and family therapists from diverse cultures and contexts penned in the midst of the pandemic. The main intention in distilling these narratives is to preserve the 'cultural diversity' and 'ecological position' of the contributors, guided by phenomenology, cultural ecology, and systemic worldviews of 'experiencing.' The second intention is to 'unite' promoting solidarity in this isolating situation by bringing each story together, creating its own metaphor of a family: united, connected, stronger. As a cross-cultural family practitioner, with a strong mission for collaboration, the lead author acknowledges the importance of Context - the nation and location of the experience; Culture - the manner in which culture impacts on experience; Collaboration - enhancing partnership, enriching knowledge, and mapping the journey's direction; and Connectedness - combating isolation while enhancing unity. Since the key transmission of culture is through language, raw reflections were sought initially in the practitioners' own language, which were translated for an English-speaking readership. These narratives are honest and rich descriptions of the authors' lived experiences, diverse and distinctive. The contributors trust colleagues will find these reflections helpful, validating and acknowledging the challenges of this unique period in history.

Preventing intergenerational trauma transmission: A critical interpretive synthesis.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE: To synthesise and critically interpret literature of relevance to intervening in intergenerational transmission of relational trauma within parent-infant relationships. BACKGROUND: Intergenerational trauma is a discrete process and form of psychological trauma transmitted within families and communities. Intergenerational trauma can be transmitted through attachment relationships where the parent has experienced relational trauma and have significant impacts upon individuals across the lifespan, including predisposition to further trauma. DESIGN: Critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) was used. CIS is an inductive qualitative process that generates new theory grounded within reviewed literature. METHODS: The review commenced by systematically searching for literature on interventions for intergenerational trauma. As the core theoretical construct emerged, elements that may contribute to preventing intergenerational trauma were identified iteratively and influenced further searching. In the final synthesis, 77 articles were included from the fields of intergenerational trauma, trauma interventions and attachment interventions. The review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist. RESULTS: The key construct is that prevention of intergenerational trauma transmission is the key intervention. The two contributing constructs were identified as "resolving parental trauma" and "actively supporting parent-infant attachment." CONCLUSIONS: Prevention is the most effective intervention approach for intergenerational transmission of trauma. Prevention requires trauma-specific interventions with adults and attachment-focused interventions within families. Preventative strategies need to target individual, relationship, familial, community and societal levels, as addressing and preventing trauma requires a multipronged, multisystemic approach. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Systematic trauma-informed attachment-focused interventions in health and social service settings are recommended. There are opportunities to provide multifocal individual and relational interventions within existing services that work with parents to help prevent the likelihood and impact of transmission of intergenerational relational trauma within families. Nurses are well placed to provide preventative interventions in mental health, early childhood and primary health settings.

Disconnected lives: Women with intellectual disabilities in conflict with the law.

BACKGROUND: Women with intellectual/developmental disabilities in conflict with the law experience childhood trauma, substance abuse and intimate partner violence but continue to have difficulty accessing appropriate therapeutic services, both within correctional settings and upon discharge. The aim of this study is to explore women's service needs and to critically assess whether the available services are meeting their identified needs. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 women with intellectual/developmental disabilities who were in the Special Needs Unit of a women's correctional centre from December 2014 to March 2015. RESULTS: Women with intellectual/developmental disabilities struggle to manage the impact of intergenerational trauma, exacerbated by issues of substance abuse and addiction, poor coping skills and minimal education, all of which impact their sense of well-being. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the need for increasing trauma treatment for women with intellectual/developmental disabilities, and emphasizes the need for accessible intervention to facilitate coping, trauma processing and community integration.

Multigenerational Dissociation: A Framework for Building Narrative.

This paper presents the concept of Multigenerational Dissociation (MGD), a behavior pattern that occurs in families in which violence and abuse are re-enacted from one generation to the next, accompanied by denial that the trauma occurred, or if it did, that it was destructive. While revictimization, reenactment, and the intergenerational transmission of trauma are discussed extensively in the literature, MGD helps to view them within a broad historical framework. This is useful for conceptualizing cases therapeutically, and it can also contribute to research on dissociation and recovered memories of trauma and abuse by demonstrating the value of narrative clinical data. Case material is used to illustrate how MGD occurs in people's lives and affects their memories, demonstrating how it becomes a frame within which to convey the dynamics of how traumatic experiences are remembered. This also demonstrates that when clinicians contribute their own narrative data to research on traumatic memory, the science is more accurate, relevant, and comprehensible to clinical and nonclinical researchers.

Applying Life History Theory to Understand Earlier Onset of Puberty: An Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Cohort Analysis.

PURPOSE: Life history theory posits that multigenerational exposure to adversity and deprivation influences childhood growth and development, including pubertal maturation. We applied this ecological, evolutionary theory to examine the contributions of distal and proximal adversity on early puberty, a potentially important marker for population health. METHODS: Baseline data from 5,645 girls in the adolescent brain cognitive development study were included. Early puberty was defined as midlate/post pubertal development by age 9-11 years. The contributions of multigenerational Black/Indigenous (Black, Indigenous and People of Color [BIPOC]) or Hispanic identities, intergenerational mental health, economic deprivation, personal trauma exposure and mental health, and proximal biological factors of premature birth and body mass index on early puberty were examined with hierarchical modeling. RESULTS: 1,225 girls (21.7%) had early puberty. BIPOC/Hispanic identity, familial adversity, economic deprivation, personal trauma, depression, and a higher body mass index contributed significantly toward early puberty. The effect of multigenerational adversity remained significant across models, but the likelihood of early puberty decreased sequentially for BIPOC and Hispanic youth as proximal adversities were added (e.g., OR decreased from 2.93 to 2.38 for BIPOC youth), supporting a synergistic effect of layered adversity on early puberty. DISCUSSION: This analysis supports life history theory as a coherent framework to understand early puberty among girls. Findings suggest monitoring pubertal timing as a population health indictor, like birth weight, prematurity, or life expectancy. Addressing early puberty may require policy and social changes to mitigate the negative impact of multiple layers of adversity including racial/ethnic disadvantage, family, and individual mental health and trauma, as well as economic insecurity.

Intergenerational trauma transmission through family psychosocial factors in adult children of Rwandan survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

Thirty years after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, children of survivors are being increasingly documented to be at higher risk compared to their peers for adverse mental health outcomes. However, no studies in Rwanda have empirically explored family psychosocial factors underlying this intergenerational transmission of trauma. We investigated family psychosocial factors that could underlie this transmission in 251 adult Rwandan children of survivors (mean age = 23.31, SD = 2.40; 50.2% female) who completed a cross-sectional online survey. For participants with survivor mothers (n = 187), we found that both offspring-reported maternal trauma exposure and maternal PTSD were indirectly associated with children's PTSD via maternal trauma communication (specifically, nonverbal and guilt-inducing communication), and that maternal PTSD was indirectly associated with children's PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptoms through family communication styles. For participants with survivor fathers (n = 170), we found that paternal PTSD symptoms were indirectly associated with children's anxiety and depression symptoms via paternal parenting styles (specifically, abusive and indifferent parenting). Although replication is needed in longitudinal research with parent-child dyads, these results reaffirm the importance of looking at mass trauma in a family context and suggest that intergenerational trauma interventions should focus on addressing family communication, trauma communication, and parenting.

'Healing through culture': Aboriginal young people's experiences of social and emotional wellbeing impacts of cultural strengthening programs.

BACKGROUND: Cultural connection for Aboriginal young people promotes wellbeing, resilience and healing. There is little research on the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) impacts of cultural strengthening programs for Aboriginal young people, especially research that includes the perspectives of young people. There is even less research that includes the experiences of Aboriginal young people who have been in out-of-home care. OBJECTIVE: The current study sought to address these research gaps by exploring the SEWB impacts of cultural strengthening programs by amplifying the voice of Aboriginal young people, including those who have been in out-of-home care. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Aboriginal young people involved in an innovative cultural strengthening program, the Narrun Yana art collective, established by the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA). Also participating was VACCA's Team Leader of Children and Youth Programs, thus providing both experiences of participating in and of organising cultural programs. METHOD: A qualitative phenomenological approach was taken. Data consisted of semi-structured interviews with the team leader and two young people and written responses to the interview questions from one young person. RESULTS: Lived experience provided evidence that cultural strengthening programs; help strengthen SEWB, including connection to self, relationships, community and culture; contribute to building resilience in the context of intergenerational trauma, cultural loss and racism; and encourage help-seeking, both informal support and accessing mental health services. Young people also viewed participating in the research as worthwhile. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlighted the importance of Aboriginal young people having opportunities to; connect to culture through participation in cultural strengthening programs, and engage in the design of these programs.