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ABSTRACT
Background: In the aftermath of child trauma, post-traumatic stress (PTS) and depression symptoms often co-occur among trauma exposed children and their parents. Studies have used latent class analysis (LCA) to examine PTS and depression symptoms and identify homogeneous subgroups among trauma exposed children. However, little is known about subgroups or classes of PTS and depression reactions of parents of traumatised children.
Objectives: (1) Determine PTS and depression symptom classes at 2–9 months post-trauma, and (2) to examine sociodemographic covariates among parents of trauma exposed children.
Methods: Using harmonised individual participant data (n = 702) from eight studies (Australia, UK, US) included in the Prospective studies of Acute Child Trauma and Recovery Data Archive (PACT/R), we modelled these phenomena at the symptom level using LCA.
Results: Our LCA yielded three solutions: ‘high internalizing symptom’ class (11%); ‘low PTS-high depression’ class (17%); and ‘low internalizing symptom’ class (72%). Parents of children in the ‘low PTS-high depression’ class were more likely to have children of older age and be part of an ethnic minority, compared to the ‘low internalizing symptoms’ class. Mothers were more likely to be in the ‘high internalizing symptom’ class compared to the ‘low internalizing symptoms’ class.
Conclusions: These findings reveal a qualitative structure and relationship between depression and PTS symptoms that highlights the importance of assessing and targeting a broad range of internalising symptoms in post-trauma psychological treatment.
HIGHLIGHTS
Using harmonised individual participant data from eight studies included in the Prospective studies of Acute Child Trauma and Recovery (PACT/R) Data Archive we identified three distinct classes of parental internalising reactions using Latent Class Analysis.
Mothers, family ethnic minority status, and children of older age were associated with distinct classes of problematic symptoms.
The findings from the present study highlight the need for assessing and targeting a broad range of internalising symptoms after trauma, and that mothers, parents of older children and families with ethnic minority status might be at risk for elevated symptoms.
Antecedentes: Después de un trauma en la infancia, el estrés postraumático (EPT) y los síntomas de depresión a menudo coexisten entre los niños expuestos al trauma y sus padres. Los estudios han utilizado el análisis de clases latentes (ACL) para examinar el síndrome de estrés postraumático y los síntomas de depresión, e identificar subgrupos homogéneos entre los niños expuestos a traumas. Sin embargo, se sabe poco sobre los subgrupos o clases de EPT y las reacciones de depresión de los padres de niños traumatizados.
Objetivos: (1) determinar las clases de síntomas de depresión y EPT entre 2 y 9 meses después del trauma, y (2) examinar las covariables sociodemográficas entre los padres de niños expuestos al trauma.
Métodos: Utilizando datos armonizados de participantes individuales (n = 702) de ocho estudios (Australia, Reino Unido, EE. UU.) incluidos en los estudios prospectivos del archivo de datos de recuperación y trauma infantil agudo (PACT/R), modelamos estos fenómenos a nivel de síntomas utilizando ACL.
Resultados: Nuestro ACL arrojó tres soluciones: clase de ‘síntoma de alta internalización’ (11%); clase ‘bajo EPT-depresión alta’ (17%); y clase de ‘síntoma de internalización baja’ (72%). Los padres de niños en la clase de ‘bajo EPT-alta depresión’ tenían más probabilidades de tener hijos de mayor edad y ser parte de una minoría étnica, en comparación con la clase de ‘bajos síntomas de internalización’. Las madres tenían más probabilidades de estar en la clase de ‘síntomas de internalización altos’ en comparación con la clase de ‘síntomas de internalización bajos’.
Conclusiones: Estos hallazgos revelan una estructura cualitativa y una relación entre la depresión y los síntomas del EPT que resalta la importancia de evaluar y abordar una amplia gama de síntomas internalizantes en el tratamiento psicológico postraumático.
Acknowledgements
This study was made possible by the Paper in a Day (PIAD) initiative as part of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies' 38th Annual Meeting (November 9 – 12, 2022, Atlanta, Georgia). We thank the conference organizing committee, and in particular Dr. Joanne Mouthaan and Dr. Sierra Elizabeth Carter for making PIAD possible; the Department of Psychology at Georgia State University for granting us their space and resources; and the Trauma Data Institute (TDI) for their PIAD sponsorship. This PIAD project is part of the Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress, a worldwide network of researchers and clinicians working together on traumatic stress topics of global importance. This study would not be possible without the work of the part of the Child Trauma Data Archives project (www.childtraumadata.org). We thank them for granting us access to the Prospective Studies of Acute Child Trauma & Recovery (PACT/R) Data Archive from which the harmonized data set was created for this study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
The datasets used for this study are publicly available, and without individually identifiable information. The harmonised dataset created for this study is available by request through the Child Trauma Data Archives project: www.childtraumadata.org.