Suarez-Morales Lourdes, Mena Maite, Schlaudt Victoria A, Santisteban Daniel A
College of Psychology, Nova Southeastern University.
School of Education and Human Development, University of Miami.
Psychol Trauma. 2017 May;9(3):334-343. doi: 10.1037/tra0000216. Epub 2016 Oct 31.
Hispanic youth in the general community experience traumatic events and display symptoms of psychological distress more frequently than do Caucasian youth. However, little is known about how traumatic experiences in this ethnic minority population relate to psychopathology in clinical samples and whether these outcomes vary by gender and are impacted by family functioning. We hypothesized that traumatic stress reactions, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and internalizing and externalizing symptoms, would vary by gender and by family functioning in a clinical sample of Hispanic youth.
The current study utilized baseline data from a randomized clinical trial (RCT) involving 200 Hispanic adolescents (122 boys and 78 girls) referred to treatment for experiencing clinical symptoms of 1 or more behavioral disorders and conflictual family relations. The rate of traumatic events, differences in outcomes depending on trauma exposure, and the effects gender, family functioning, and trauma on psychopathology and PTSD symptoms were examined.
Analyses revealed that 61% of Hispanic youth in this clinical sample experienced at least 1 traumatic event. Although only 12% of the sample reported PTSD scores in the clinical range, girls reported higher PTSD scores than did boys. Poor family cohesion was particularly detrimental to girls compared with boys and related to internalizing and PTSD symptoms. High family conflict predicted PTSD symptoms in boys but not in girls.
These findings have clinical implications for working with Hispanic populations, suggesting that culturally sensitive interventions should incorporate family-based interventions for individuals who experience trauma to strengthen family bonds and decrease family conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record
普通社区中的西班牙裔青少年比白人青少年更频繁地经历创伤事件并表现出心理困扰症状。然而，对于这个少数族裔群体的创伤经历如何与临床样本中的精神病理学相关，以及这些结果是否因性别而异并受到家庭功能的影响，我们知之甚少。我们假设，在西班牙裔青少年的临床样本中，创伤应激反应，包括创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）以及内化和外化症状，会因性别和家庭功能而异。
本研究利用了一项随机临床试验（RCT）的基线数据，该试验涉及200名因出现1种或多种行为障碍临床症状和家庭关系冲突而接受治疗的西班牙裔青少年（122名男孩和78名女孩）。研究考察了创伤事件的发生率、取决于创伤暴露的结果差异，以及性别、家庭功能和创伤对精神病理学和PTSD症状的影响。
分析显示，该临床样本中61%的西班牙裔青少年至少经历过1次创伤事件。虽然只有12%的样本报告PTSD得分在临床范围内，但女孩报告的PTSD得分高于男孩。与男孩相比，家庭凝聚力差对女孩尤其有害，且与内化症状和PTSD症状相关。高家庭冲突预示着男孩会出现PTSD症状，但女孩不会。
这些发现对与西班牙裔人群合作具有临床意义，表明文化敏感的干预措施应纳入针对经历创伤的个体的家庭干预，以加强家庭纽带并减少家庭冲突。（PsycINFO数据库记录）
