When criticism is ineffective: The case of historical trauma and unsupportive allies

Three studies examined the effect of historical trauma reminders and criticism from international allies on attitudes toward current conflicts. In Study 1, Israeli participants (N = 116) were primed with the Holocaust, and read either that the U.S. President Obama supports Israel's right to defend itself and attack Iran, or that he opposes such action. Then, support for preemptive violence was assessed. Study 2 (N = 133) replicated this design, comparing inclusive and exclusive framings of the Holocaust. Study 3 (N = 478), examined the effect of Holocaust reminders and criticism from the European Union on attitudes toward militant policies against Palestinians. All three studies found that Holocaust primes juxtaposed with international criticism increased support for aggression, especially under exclusive framings of the Holocaust. Study 3, however, found this effect only among left‐wing participants. These findings indicate that when historical trauma is salient, international criticism may be ineffective and may even backfire.     

‘If I leave home,who will take care of mum?’ Intergenerational transmission of parental trauma through projective identification

Using the construct of projective identification and integrating it with the body of literature on intergenerational transmission of unsymbolized parental trauma, I describe the case of an adult daughter that illustrates intergenerational transmission of unsymbolized parental trauma. It is suggested that the daughter has unconsciously identified with the disavowed feelings of anxiety projected into her by her mother. The daughter’s projective identification of her mother’s unresolved past traumas prevent her from leaving the parental home for the first time, despite being 35 years old. In turn, it is thought that the mother’s unconscious grasping onto her daughter is an attempt to avoid the confrontation of her own unprocessed fears implanted into her by her own mother, thus linking three generations of disavowal. As a way of extending the exiting theory, it is proposed that when there are long-term and inexplicable experiences of anxiety that coalesces around the intergenerational transmission of parental trauma, the term ‘intergenerational transmission of traumatic anxiety’ can be used to describe it.     

MATERNAL TRAUMA AFFECTS PRENATAL MENTAL HEALTH AND INFANT STRESS REGULATION AMONG PALESTINIAN DYADS

We examined how diverse and cumulated traumatic experiences predicted maternal prenatal mental health and infant stress regulation in war conditions and whether maternal mental health mediated the association between trauma and infant stress regulation. Participants were 511 Palestinian mothers from the Gaza Strip who reported exposure to current war trauma (WT), past childhood emotional (CEA) and physical abuse, socioeconomic status (SES), prenatal mental health problems (posttraumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms), and perceived stress during their secondtrimester of pregnancy as well as infant stress regulation at 4 months. While all trauma types were associated with high levels of prenatal symptoms, CEA had the most wide‐ranging effects and was uniquely associated with depression symptoms. Concerning infant stress regulation, mothers’ CEA predicted negative affectivity, but only among mothers with low WT. Against hypothesis, the effects of maternal trauma on infant stress regulation were not mediated by mental health symptoms. Mothers’ higher SES was associated with better infant stress regulation whereas infant prematurity and male sex predisposed for difficulties. Our findings suggest that maternal childhood abuse, especially CEA, should be a central treatment target among war‐exposed families. Cumulated psychosocial stressors might increase the risk for transgenerational problems.     

A Social Learning Perspective on Childhood Trauma and Same‐Sex Intimate Partner Violence

The family violence and childhood trauma literature has suggested that early adverse experiences create risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV). Thus, this study used a sample of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) college students (N = 266) to explore differences among childhood trauma, same‐sex IPV, and IPV acceptance. The authors used survey methodology and multivariate analysis of variance. Results indicated that LGB individuals reporting childhood trauma also reported higher rates of IPV, suggesting implications for research and practice.     

Loneliness as Moderator Between Trauma and Posttraumatic Growth

This study investigated the association between loneliness, trauma symptomatology, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in undergraduate students (N = 362). The study also explored whether loneliness moderated the relationship between experiences of trauma and PTG. The results demonstrated that both loneliness and trauma symptoms predicted levels of PTG, and loneliness moderated the relationship between trauma and PTG. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for counseling are discussed.     

Investigating the neurodevelopmental mediators of aggression in children with a history of child maltreatment:An exploratory field study

Maltreatment of children is a chronic community problem that increases the risk of future aggression. Despite several decades of research highlighting this relationship, few studies have explored the potential neuropsychological deficits that are likely to mediate it. This exploratory study aimed to examine how child maltreatment may be associated with aggression via impairment in the developing prefrontal-limbic-autonomic pathways that are implicated in neuropsychological models of aggression. Furthermore, it aimed to investigate the relationship between child maltreatment and both reactive and proactive aggression subtypes. To investigate this non-invasively in an at-risk population, children with a documented protective care history (n = 20) and a community control group (n = 30), aged between 6 and 12 years, were compared on measures of cardiovascular functioning, affect regulation and cognitive functioning aligned with this neuropsychological model. Whilst no group differences were found on cardiovascular functioning (i.e., resting heart rate, heart rate reactivity, heart rate variability), the protective care group performed significantly worse on measures of affect regulation and cognitive functioning (i.e., global intelligence, executive functioning, smell identification and social cognition). The relationship between child maltreatment and aggression was mediated by executive dysfunction and affect dysregulation but not global IQ, social cognition or olfactory identification. The results suggest that interventions targeting aggression in maltreated children will benefit from clinical assessment and psychological strategies that address the executive dysfunction and affect dysregulation that has been associated with this clinical outcome.     

Family processes in the midst of urban poverty: What does the trauma literature tell us?

Consistent with a family systems framework, this paper examines the clinical and research literatures to clarify the connection between chronic trauma exposure and family processes with a focus on the social ecology of low-income, urban neighborhoods. Strong empirical evidence demonstrates the impact of chronic trauma on individual family members and, in turn, on multiple family subsystems. Additionally, there is evidence that living under chronically harsh, traumatic circumstances slowly erodes family processes, specifically structure, relations, and coping. However, existing research reflects the problems inherent in sorting out relationships among multiple, often interrelated factors. Future research requires comprehensive theoretical models, such as systemic, transactional, or ecodevelopmental, along with sophisticated research designs, prospective, longitudinal or intervention, and multilevel analytic methods.     

Traumatic effects of political repression in Chile: A clinical experience1

The author examines psychic trauma resulting from human rights violations in Chile. Starting from trauma theories developed by authors such as Ferenczi, Winnicott and Stolorow, she posits the relevance of the subject's emotionally signifi cant environment in the production of the traumatic experience. She describes the characteristics of the therapeutic process on the basis of a clinical case. She emphasizes the need to recognize the damage that may be produced within the reliable link between patient and analyst, pointing out the risk of retraumatization if analysts distance themselves and apply ‘technique’ rigorously, leaving out their own subjective assessments. Therapists must maintain their focus on the conjunction of the patient's intersubjective context and inner psychic world both when exploring the origin of the trauma and when insight is produced. The author posits repetition in the transference as an attempt at reparation, at fi nding the expected response from the analyst that will help patients assemble the fragments of their history and achieve, as Winnicott would put it, a feeling of continuity in the experience of being.     

The specifi city of torture as trauma: The human wilderness when words fail1

The author attempts to situate the specifi city of torture‐understood as the product of political violence and of totalitarian states‐within the historical framework of the concept of trauma in psychoanalysis. When the mind and social ties are simultaneously affected, the intrapsychic and transpersonal aspects of the suffered damage intertwine in a complex and unique web. The author aims to dismantle the notion of victim, considering it both stigmatizing and inaccurate. The goal is not just to identify the after‐effects and the disabilities suffered by those affected by torture, but also to integrate their experiences and their narratives into a life project. Rather than individual psychopathology, this essay refl ects upon those phenomena of suggestion and hypnosis that are at work in human groups under ordinary conditions and that are exacerbated under social crises, following the Freudian axis developed in Group psychology and the analysis of the ego.