Impact of traumatic incidents on family-of-origin functioning: An empirical study

This pilot study was an attempt to empirically validate some of the clinical observations made about traumatic incidents and families in the literature. The study hypothesized that there would be a significant difference in family functioning between those subjects that reported feeling traumatized and those subjects that did not report feeling traumatized, there would be a significant difference in anxiety between the identified trauma group and the identified non-trauma group, and there would be a significant difference in the breadth of support systems between the two groups. The results indicated that there were significant differences between groups of individuals who were identified as traumatized or non-traumatized. The differences included family functioning, individual feelings of anxiety, and report of familial support systems. The findings of this study were congruent with and supportive of much clinical literature on families and traumatic incidents.