Interpersonal Trauma: The Contributions to Current PTSD Symptoms in Female
Priscilla Schulz, LCSW
from an article of the same title by:
Pallavi Nishith, Mindy B. Mechanic, and Patricia A. Resick, University of Missouri, St. Louis
Journal of Abnormal Psychology (in press)
How do childhood and adult experiences of interpersonal violence differentially affect PTSD in recent rape survivors?
This study statistically characterizes the relationships that childhood sexual abuse, childhood physical abuse and adult interpersonal violence each have with both adult victimization and current Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in recent, adult, rape survivors. A theoretical model that maps these effects is offered and tested.
Why is this important?
A history of interpersonal violence poses a risk for survivors in a several ways. Numerous authoritative studies document that not only do prior experiences of interpersonal violence, from childhood or as an adult, increase a person's risk of becoming a victim later in life, but they also contribute to vulnerability for PTSD. In addition, a history of trauma can have a cumulative effect on survivors, increasing PTSD vulnerability. When mental health providers understand how the different, prior, traumatic experiences affect PTSD severity and threaten recovery for recent rape survivors, they can design care to address these issues.
How did the study disentangle and demonstrate the effects of childhood and adult victimizations on current PTSD?
Each of 117 recent rape survivors referred by local police, hospitals and victim service agencies completed the History of Victimization Questionnaire (HVQ) and the PTSD Symptom Scale-Self Report (PSS-SR). Their responses on the HVQ were analyzed along several subscales that distinguished between childhood sexual abuse, childhood physical abuse, and adult victimization experiences. These were then analyzed along with their PSS-SR scores. A statistical technique known as "path analysis" was applied to demonstrate the relationship among the different kinds of interpersonal violence histories to participants' current PTSD symptoms.
What did this study discover about interpersonal violence histories' effects on recent rape survivors' PTSD?
Childhood sexual abuse posed a significantly greater risk for subsequent victimization and psychological problems than childhood physical abuse.
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA):
The study's authors offer several possible answers:
The majority of the study's participants had incomes below $5,000 annually. It is possible that the low-income environment in which most of these women lived may have contributed to the amount of violence they experienced as adults. Policy makers and the public could consider poverty as a public health concern in that it seems to influence risk for interpersonal violence. Future research could focus on sorting out the role of poverty in CSA and subsequent victimization as adults.
What are the treatment implications of this study?