Crossing Borders: A study of the associations between maternal traumatic exposure and trauma sequelae, child psychosocial adjustment and resiliency

Project title

Crossing Borders: A study of the associations between maternal traumatic exposure and trauma sequelae, child pyschosocial adjustment and resiliency, mother-child interactions and intra-family communication styles in asylum-seeking families

Project manager

Natalie Flanagan

Project description

Goal:
The project will look at the ways in which trauma affects family systems in an asylum-seeking population, and specifically, the communicative mechanisms underpinning the translation of trauma across generations.

Fokus:
The project will explore the associations between maternal traumatic exposure and trauma sequelae, and child psychosocial adjustment and resiliency, in asylum-seeking families, where the mother has experienced torture.

Methods:
By studying the quality of mother-child interactions and family communication styles as mediator variables between posttraumatic symptoms of mothers, and infants psychosocial functioning and resiliency within a high-risk sample, the study will contribute to our understanding of the impact of posttraumatic stress symptoms on families.

Perspectives:
Findings will inform EU treatment programs for asylum-seeking families where a parent has a history of traumatic exposure, e.g. torture. The project is a part of CONTEXT: The COllaborative Network for Training and EXcellence in psychoTraumatology.

The project is carried out under

ThRIVE Research Group

Start date and expected end date

2017-2020

Main supervisor

Anna Thit Johnsen, Department of Psychology, SDU

Co-supervisors

Maj Hansen, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, SDU

Collaborators

Centre of Global Health, Trinity College Dublin;
Spirasi, Ireland

Funding

European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No.722523

Keywords

maternal traumatic exposure, trauma sequelae, child psychosocial adjustment, resiliency, mother-child interactions, intra-family communication styles, asylum-seeking families