Investigating the Association Between Parental Absence and Developmental Trauma Disorder Symptoms

Abstract

The importance of parent‐child relationships in social and emotional development is well established. The current study examined the vulnerability to developmental trauma disorder (DTD) symptoms for children who were left behind by their parents due to migration. Using samples from China, we investigated the change pattern of DTD symptoms with respect to scales for affect–physical dysregulation, self‐dysregulation, and behavioral dysregulation among left‐behind children in comparison to their peers. The results of a hierarchical linear model analysis indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in affect‐physical dysregulation, self‐dysregulation, or behavioral dysregulation between left‐behind children and their counterparts at age 13, ηp2 = .00–.013. However, DTD symptoms worsened over time for left‐behind children, with a larger mean score difference in DTD symptoms at 18 years of age, ηp2 = .24–.43. The results suggest a possible link between impaired caregiving systems and DTD symptoms. Early prevention efforts would benefit these children before they develop more serious psychosocial problems in the future.

Consecuencias Del Maltrato Crónico Intrafamiliar en La Infancia: Trauma Del Desarrollo

“…Los estudios que comparan menores con historia de trauma, según criterios de exposición TTD, con otro tipo de experiencias traumáticas, confirmaron diferencias clínicas sustanciales entre ambos grupos, presentando los primeros mayor probabilidad de alteraciones propias de un TEPT-C infantil o un TTD McClelland et al, 2009;Stolbach et al, 2009;Stolbach et al, 2013;Zhang, Zhang, & Ding, 2019). Menores tutelados comparados con menores que han sufrido abusos equivalentes, pero no separados de sus padres o de uno de ellos, desarrollan igualmente trauma complejo, pero la evolución y complicaciones del mismo es más grave en los tutelados (Zhang et al, 2019). Spinazzola et al (2018), informaron que el TTD y TEPT se asocian con agresiones y/o abuso físico, violencia familiar, maltrato emocional, negligencia y cuidadores discapacitados.…”

Can developmental trauma disorder be distinguished from posttraumatic stress disorder? A symptom-level person-centred empirical approach

“…abuse, assault, exploitation, witnessing potentially life-threatening violence) and disruption in attachment bonding with primary caregivers (e.g. severe neglect or caregiver impairment, prolonged separation or loss) are at risk for internalizing and externalizing psychopathology that includes but extends beyond, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Bremness & Polzin, 2014;Ford et al, 2018;Hansen et al, 2015;Khamis, 2019;Lyons-Ruth & Brumariu, 2020;Ma & Li, 2014;McLaughlin et al, 2014;Murphy et al, 2016;Schneider, 2020;Seay, 2020;Sierau et al, 2020;Spinazzola et al, 2018;Stolbach et al, 2013;van der Kolk et al, 2019;Villalta et al, 2018;Yoon, 2017;Yoon et al, 2017;Zhang et al, 2019). The complex biopsychosocial sequela of attachment and victimization trauma also overlap with but are not fully represented by many other child psychiatric disorders (Aldao et al, 2016;Beauchaine & Cicchetti, 2019;Conway et al, 2018;Heleniak et al, 2016;McLaughlin et al, 2020;Wade et al, 2020;Weissman et al, 2019;Weissman et al, 2020).…”