Previously, we presented data demonstrating that not only do children’s ratings of their own symptomatology decrease after participating in the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI), but caregiver’s ratings of their own symptomatology also decrease after completing therapy with their child. This is strong evidence that the therapeutic model is beneficial for the entire family.
This month, we are highlighting another aspect of caregiver mental health. An examination of our outcomes data demonstrates that the number of traumas caregivers report having experienced in their lives is positively correlated with several important variables.
As one might expect, the more traumas a caregiver has personally experienced, the greater is their self-reported distress as measured by the Posttraumatic Checklist (PCL), r(167)=.371, p<.001.
An interesting finding in our data also demonstrates that the number of traumas a caregiver has personally experienced is positively correlated with their baseline ratings of their child’s symptomatology as measured by the Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS), r(176)=.211, p=.005.
However, the number of traumas the caregiver has experienced in their lives is NOT correlated at baseline with their child’s rating of their symptomatology as measured by the CPSS, r(177)=.005, p=.949. This indicates that caregiver trauma seems to influence perceptions of their child’s trauma.
Encouragingly, after participating in CFTSI, the number of traumas caregivers have experienced in their lives is no longer correlated with their ratings of their child’s symptomatology, r(88)=.11, p=.309. This provides further evidence that participation in CFTSI improves family communication and helps caregivers refrain from perceiving their children’s trauma in light of their own trauma.