Attachment Disruptions, IQ, and PTSD in African American Adolescents: A Traumatology Perspective

Abstract

Attachment disruptions, other traumas, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and intelligence quotient (IQ) were measured in a sample of 181 African American adolescents. Path analysis was utilized to test the effects of different types of attachment disruptions on IQ and PTSD. Findings supported that mother and father abandonments and being in foster care are associated with decreased perceptual reasoning, processing speed, and working memory, and increased discrepancy between perceptual and verbal toward decreased perceptual reasoning. Such suppression and discrepancy contribute to poor academic achievement. Results validated the traumatology perspective on attachment disruptions as traumas that are associated with PTSD, suppression of most IQ potentials, and with potential brain hemispheric desynchronization. The ramifications of these results for helping African American adolescents are discussed.

Keywords:

• African American adolescents
• attachment disruptions
• IQ discrepancy indexes
• IQ factors
• PTSD symptom clusters

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the VAT team for contributions to this work as well as all of the youth who agreed to participate in the project. The article used data collected through research funded by a grant from the Wayne State University Research Enhancement Program (Linda Lewandowski, Principal Investigator; Children's Bridge).