The transmission of intergenerational trauma and protective factors in survivors of the lebanese civil war and their adult offspring
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11209204 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jennifer Tarabay (0000-0001-7472-1036, University of Southampton, corresponding author), Dennis Golm (0000-0002-2950-7935, University of Southampton) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 99 |
| Pages | 101952 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Intercultural Relations (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0147-1767 • E-ISSN: 1873-7552 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2024.101952 |
| OpenAlex | W4392351437 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 43 |
The aim of the study was to examine the transmission of intergenerational trauma in survivors of the Lebanese civil war and their adult offspring. To examine potential mechanisms, it was hypothesized that the relationship between parental war exposure and offspring psychopathology was statistically mediated by (i) parental psychopathology and (ii) offspring exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACE). Finally, it was predicted that spirituality and social support might buffer against the effects of adversity and therefore moderate the association between trauma exposure and psychopathology. An online questionnaire-based study was conducted, recruiting 110 dyads of parents who had lived through the Lebanese civil war and their post-war born adult offspring. Parental war exposure and trauma symptoms [with the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ)] and offspring adverse childhood experiences and trauma symptoms [with Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) and Impact of Events Scale Revised (IES-R)] were assessed. Both parents and offspring’s distress [with Beirut Distress Scale (BDS-10)], depression and anxiety symptoms [with Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21)], perceived social support [with Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)], and perceived spirituality [with Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS)] were measured. Parental war exposure and offspring psychopathology were statistically mediated by parental psychopathology, but not ACE exposure. Offspring of parents with (vs without) high levels of psychopathology had 3.72 times higher odds of reporting high levels of psychopathology themselves. Findings showed that the correlation between trauma exposure and psychopathology was moderated by perceived social support and spirituality. However, the correlation was only significant for higher levels of social support and spirituality. These results suggest that the presence of the proximal risk factor "low social support” may affect psychopathology negatively no matter the amount of adverse experiences consistent with a recency model of adversity. If social support is at least moderate, the distal risk factor “adverse experiences/ war trauma” impacts psychopathology. Overall, these findings highlight the need for trauma-informed mental health support for people fleeing from or residing in countries with ongoing or recent armed conflicts
Biology · Developmental psychology · Offspring · Political science · Pregnancy · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Telecommunications · Transmission (telecommunications · Demography · Engineering · Family Support in Illness · Genetics · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology
The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire
Agreement Between Prospective and Retrospective Measures of Childhood Maltreatment
The relations among depression in fathers, children's psychopathology, and father–child conflict
Maternal Depression and Child Psychopathology
Resilience in Children Exposed to Violence
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales
The Impact of Event Scale
Inference and missing data
Why does early childhood deprivation increase the risk for depression and anxiety in adulthood? A developmental cascade model
Toward An Integrative Measure of Health and Well-Being
Exposure to War-Related Traumatic Events, Prevalence of PTSD, and General Psychiatric Morbidity in a Civilian Population From Southern Lebanon
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An Arabic Version of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale
Exposure to community and collective violence during childhood and tobacco use patterns among young adults in Tunisia
Intergenerational Trauma and Its Relationship to Mental Health Care
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| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |