Sangalang Cindy C, Jager Justin, Harachi Tracy W
School of Social Work, California State University, Los Angeles, United States; Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center, Arizona State University, United States.
Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center, Arizona State University, United States; T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2017 Jul;184:178-186. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.04.032. Epub 2017 May 15.
The psychological effects of trauma are well-documented among refugee adults and children alone, yet less research has attended to the intergenerational transmission of trauma within refugee families. Additionally, there is considerable diversity between refugee populations as well as within-group variation in the experiences and effects of refugee trauma.
The current study examines the longitudinal effects of maternal traumatic distress on family functioning and child mental health outcomes among Southeast Asian refugee women and their adolescent children. Given the potential for variation in these effects, we also explore group differences in these relationships by ethnicity and child nativity.
Longitudinal data were collected from a random sample of 327 Southeast Asian refugee mothers and their children in the United States. We employed structural equation modeling to examine associations between latent variables representing maternal traumatic distress, family functioning, and child mental health outcomes (i.e., depressive symptoms, antisocial and delinquent behavior, and school problems). We then tested for group differences in these associations by ethnicity (Cambodian and Vietnamese subgroups) and child nativity (U.S.-born and foreign-born children).
We found maternal traumatic distress was indirectly linked to child mental health outcomes, and that child nativity was associated with these paths while ethnicity was not. For foreign-born children, maternal traumatic distress was associated with diminished family functioning a year later, which was associated with increased school problems at the two-year mark. Maternal traumatic distress was indirectly associated with depressive symptoms and antisocial and delinquent behavior, respectively, after accounting for family functioning. For all children, weaker family functioning was significantly associated with poorer mental health.
Findings suggest that refugee parents' trauma can adversely affect family relationships and the mental health of children. Interventions that address parental trauma and support intergenerational relationships may enhance mental health within refugee communities for future generations.
创伤的心理影响在难民成年人和儿童中已有充分记录，但针对难民家庭内部创伤的代际传递的研究较少。此外，难民群体之间存在相当大的差异，而且难民创伤的经历和影响在群体内部也存在差异。
本研究考察了东南亚难民妇女及其青春期子女中，母亲创伤性应激对家庭功能和儿童心理健康结果的纵向影响。鉴于这些影响可能存在差异，我们还按种族和儿童出生地探讨了这些关系中的群体差异。
从美国327名东南亚难民母亲及其子女的随机样本中收集纵向数据。我们采用结构方程模型来检验代表母亲创伤性应激、家庭功能和儿童心理健康结果（即抑郁症状、反社会和违法犯罪行为以及学校问题）的潜在变量之间的关联。然后，我们按种族（柬埔寨和越南亚组）和儿童出生地（美国出生和外国出生的儿童）检验了这些关联中的群体差异。
我们发现母亲创伤性应激与儿童心理健康结果间接相关，并且儿童出生地与这些路径相关，而种族则无关。对于外国出生的儿童，母亲创伤性应激与一年后家庭功能的下降有关，而家庭功能下降又与两年后的学校问题增加有关。在考虑家庭功能后，母亲创伤性应激分别与抑郁症状、反社会和违法犯罪行为间接相关。对于所有儿童来说，较弱的家庭功能与较差的心理健康显著相关。
研究结果表明，难民父母的创伤会对家庭关系和儿童心理健康产生不利影响。解决父母创伤并支持代际关系的干预措施可能会改善难民社区后代的心理健康。
