Child Maltreatment and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptomology: The Role of Racial/Ethnic Identity as a Protective Factor
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Strong-Jones, Sienna
- Graduate Program:
- Human Development and Family Studies
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- March 24, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Jennie G Noll, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Abenaa Jones, Committee Member
Charles Geier, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Zachary Fisher, Committee Member
Abenaa Jones, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Jennie G Noll, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- Child maltreatment
trauma
resilience
PTSS - Abstract:
- Child maltreatment is a prevalent issue in our society today, affecting 8.4 out of every 1,000 children in the United States population (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Many studies have found a link between child maltreatment and various adverse effects, but very few have examined the heterogeneous responses to trauma. The present study aims to 1) replicate the findings of previous research suggesting that ethnic minority status is a predictor of resilience, 2) test the hypothesis that one’s ethnic identity helps to explain this resilience, and 3) examine racial differences in how ethnic identity operates to promote resilience. The sample included 181 sexually abused, and comparison females assessed periodically across three time points from age 6-32 in a prospective longitudinal study. We utilized growth mixture modeling to identify distinct post-traumatic symptom (PTSS) trajectories across time: (1) high, chronic (11%), and (2) subclinical, decreasing (53%), indicating symptomology below the clinically significant levels of PTSS, and (3) moderate, chronic (36%). A multinomial logistic regression model was used to test whether ethnic identity is a protective factor against the development of PTSS. There were no statistically significant differences in ethnic identity across PTSS trajectory groups. However, there was a statistically significant difference in trajectories for experiencing other potentially traumatic events (p<0.01), especially violence with an increased likelihood of being in the high, increasing trajectory than the resilient trajectory Findings confirm heterogeneity in trauma responses and suggest a need for further exploration of the complex factors that contribute to trauma resilience, including the role of individual and contextual factors.