Factors Influencing Levels of Secondary Traumatic stress in non-offending Caregivers of Children With Sexual or Physical Abuse Histories

dc.contributor.authorMangold, Ani
dc.date.accessioned2022-11-08T16:26:44Z
dc.date.available2022-11-08T16:26:44Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractThe present study examined factors influencing levels of secondary traumatic stress (STS) in non-offending caregivers (NOCs) of children with histories of sexual or physical abuse. These factors included the nature of the abuse, NOCs’ relationships with the initiators of the abuse, children’s ages and genders, NOCs’ genders, NOCs’ personal trauma histories, familial structures, and the elapsed time between children’s disclosures of abuse and their trauma assessments. As a secondary objective, the present study examined the interactions between children’s self-reports of their own posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology, NOCs’ estimates of their children’s PTSD symptomatology, and NOCs’ self-reports of their own STS symptomatology. Participants from a clinical sample (N=150; child age M=9.89, SD=4.08) completed the PTSD Checklist for the DSM-5 (PCL-5) and the Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS, Child-Report and NOC-Report). Analytic strategies included point-biserial correlation coefficient calculations, linear regression analyses, and Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVAs). The present study found that NOCs experience STS following their children’s disclosures of abuse, irrespective of the nature of the abuse, their children’s ages, and their children’s genders. NOCs’ levels of STS were unaffected by whether their own genders were congruous or incongruous with their children’s genders. The present study also found that NOCs’ levels of STS were impacted by their relationships with the initiators of the abuse, personal trauma histories, and familial structures. NOCs’ self-reported STS symptomatology mirrored their estimates of their children’s PTSD symptomatology. The discrepancy ratios between children’s self-reports of their own PTSD symptomatology and NOCs’ estimates of their children’s PTSD 2 symptomatology were impacted by children’s ages and genders. The impact of STS on NOCs deserves additional attention in the child traumatology literature and warrants careful consideration in clinical settings. Clinical practitioners should note the importance of examining children’s self-reports of their own PTSD symptomatology, NOCs’ estimates of their children’s PTSD symptomatology, and NOCs’ self-reports of their own STS symptomatology concurrently when making recommendations for trauma-informed evidence-based treatments.en_US
dc.identifier.citationMangold, A. (2022). Factors Influencing Levels Of Secondary Traumatic Stress In Non-Offending Caregivers Of Children With Sexual Or Physical Abuse Histories (Doctoral dissertation, University of North Dakota).en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://commons.und.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5357&context=theses
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11212/5618
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of North Dakotaen_US
dc.subjectpost-traumatic stress disorderen_US
dc.subjectsecondary traumatic stressen_US
dc.subjectnonoffending caregiversen_US
dc.subjectchild abuseen_US
dc.subjectrisk factorsen_US
dc.titleFactors Influencing Levels of Secondary Traumatic stress in non-offending Caregivers of Children With Sexual or Physical Abuse Historiesen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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