A Causal Model of Children ’s Vicarious Traumatization

AbstractChildren may be vicariously traumatized from learning about the trauma of family and friends. To date, a causal model of children ’s vicarious traumatization has not been empirically validated in the literature. This paper fills the gap in the literature by reporting on the direct effect of vicarious trauma on children independent of caregiving impairment. Data for the study came from the National Survey of Children’s Expo sure to Violence I (NATSCEV I). This unique dataset features two indicators of vicarious trauma exposure: (1) family victimization and (2) community violence. Hierarchical multiple regression was conducted in order to control for nuisance variables such as caregiver impairment, defined as the degree of warmth or hostility; time elapsed since the trauma occurred and the study taking place; and other trauma exposure (i.e. direct and witnessed trauma). As expected, the study found evidence of a direct and positive relationship between learning about the trauma of close friends and family and chil dren’s trauma symptomatology. Both adolescents and young children were found to be vulnerable to experience vicarious traumatization, with gender and ethnicity being contributing factors. Chronological age was not found to be significant in children’s vicarious traumatization. These findings sup port the causal model of vicarious traumatization. They demonstrate that children may be traumatized by exposure to the trauma material of others above and bey...
Source: Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma - Category: Child Development Source Type: research