Extant research suggests communication styles (CS) such as constructive communication (CC) to be associated positively with relationship satisfaction (RS) and negatively with mental health (MH) whereas self-demand / partner withdraw (SD/PW) communication is associated negatively with RS and positively with MH. Research also suggests child abuse (CA) to be associated with poorer CS, lower RS, and poorer MH. Further, RS has been differentially associated with MH and CS in adult intimate relationships. However, no study has examined these associations simultaneously. The current study aimed to (1) assess these associations in IPV-exposed women and (2) assess differences between those with and without a history of CA. Data (n = 412; Mage = 36.77, SD = 12.54) come from a larger data collection project (N = 676). I hypothesized that: (1) higher CC and RS would be associated with lower severity of MH symptoms; (2) higher SD/PW and lower RS would be associated with higher severity of MH symptoms; (3) women with a history of CA will report less CC, lower RS, and higher severity of MH symptoms; and (4) women with a history of CA will report more SD/PW, lower RS, and higher severity of MH symptoms. Results did not support hypotheses. Results suggest that CS and RS do not together predict MH in this population and do not differ for those with or without a history of CA. Future research should quantitatively and qualitatively investigate these associations in dyads in order to thoroughly assess the everyday nature of the relationship.

This thesis is an autoethnographic exploration and articulation of aspects of my lived experience of the longterm impact of professional abuse. It is a context-dependent single case study written from a researcher-participant-counsellor perspective. In my review of the literature I demonstrate the challenges of researching and documenting the direct experiences of women who have been sexually exploited by male professionals. These challenges stem from our natural human tendency to deny traumatic experience, and from the prevailing culture of many social institutions which continues to have the effect of silencing women's voices and discrediting women's experience. The methodological approach I have taken in this thesis is evocative autoethnography. I have chosen this approach in order to document and analyse my present embodied experiences of remembering past abuse, continuing feelings of loss, and unfulfilled longing for resolution and release. I explore the relationship between my past and present selves in context, and consider the therapeutic possibilities of combining memory work, lifewriting, poetry, and imagination to create texts of remembering and re-remembering, to reclaim both what is and what might have been.

Betrayal trauma theory posits that victims of abuse perpetrated by someone close are more likely to dissociate from awareness of the abuse in order to protect the needed relationship. Shame may likewise protect the relationship by turning the victim's attention inward, thereby increasing the likelihood that the abusive environment will be overlooked. In this dissertation, the associations between shame, dissociation, and betrayal trauma were examined in two experimental studies. A third study examined the consequences of chronic shame. Aims were to determine whether shame and dissociation have a unique link with high betrayal traumas (HiBT), to understand the nature of the relationship between shame and dissociation, and to investigate the consequences of chronic shame. In study 1, 124 female trauma survivors were randomly assigned to a high or low betrayal threat condition. Greater exposure to HiBT but not low betrayal traumas (LoBT) predicted increased shame and dissociation following high betrayal threat. Greater exposure to LoBT but not HiBT predicted increased fear following non-betrayal threat. Compared to non-dissociators, dissociators from threat endorsed more negative psychological consequences. In study 2, 127 female trauma survivors completed a dissociation induction and battery of questionnaires. The bypassed shame theory, which proposes that dissociation serves to disconnect from the pain of shame, was examined. Results partially supported bypassed shame theory. Although feelings of shame led to a larger dissociation response to the induction, dissociation did not interrupt shame but rather led to even higher shame. Implications are discussed for a possible contributing role of shame to betrayal blindness. In study 3, 247 trauma survivors completed online questionnaires addressing chronic shame hypotheses. Regression results revealed that all forms of chronic shame, especially trauma-focused shame, predicted negative health consequences. Correlation results revealed that HiBT was associated with more types of negative outcomes compared to LoBT and that HiBT but not LoBT was associated with chronic shame. Taken together, results indicate that, like dissociation, shame may be both an adaptive and detrimental response following betrayal trauma and that emotional and cognitive responses other than fear warrant attention in trauma research and practice.

This study examined interplay between interpersonal trauma (IPT), relationship status, relationship satisfaction (SAT), and partner substance use (PSU), and whether these relationship dimensions moderated associations between IPT and alcohol outcomes. Data came from a longitudinal study of college students (N=9,911; 61%female; 49%White). Precollege IPT increased the likelihood of being in a relationship, while college-onset IPT decreased the likelihood. IPT predicted lower SAT and higher PSU. Individuals with precollege IPT consumed more alcohol than those without IPT, but this was mitigated for those in relationships. Individuals with college-onset IPT consumed more alcohol than those without IPT, and this was more pronounced with higher PSU. Effects changed modestly when controlling for PTSD. Findings suggest timing of IPT impacts its effects on relationship dimensions, and their interactive effects on alcohol. Involvement in relationships, but not relationship satisfaction, buffers against the effects of IPT on alcohol use, while high PSU partner exacerbates it.

College students have an increased risk for cannabis use, trauma exposure, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cannabis use disorder (CUD) and PTSD comorbidity is high, and given the negative consequences of the comorbidity (e.g., poor academic outcomes), there is a need to understand comorbid CUD-PTSD etiology. Two primary etiologic models exist: self-medication (i.e., PTSD à CUD) and high-risk (i.e., CUD à PTSD) hypotheses. This study 1) examined the prevalence and predictors of cannabis use and interpersonal trauma (IPT) exposure; 2) investigated the relationship between cannabis use and IPT; and 3) examined cannabis use, IPT, and PTSD through mediational self-medication and high-risk hypotheses lenses in a large (n = 9,889) longitudinal study of college students. Aim 1 found the prevalence of lifetime problematic (i.e., use ≥ 6 times) and experimental (i.e., use 1-5 times) cannabis use was 28.3% and 17.4%, respectively. Aim 1 results also estimated that the prevalence of lifetime IPT exposure was 35.9%. Aim 2 results supported the self-medication hypothesis, but not the high-risk hypothesis. Overall model fit from Aim 3 was poor. Nonetheless, Aim 3 results did not support the self-medication or high-risk hypotheses. Given the poor model fit of Aim 3, results should be interpreted with caution. However, as a whole, these findings provide preliminary support for the self-medication hypothesis, indicating that those reporting IPT exposure and probable PTSD may be at risk for cannabis use. Implications of these findings, in light of study limitations, are discussed.

Individuals who experience a traumatic event may have an adverse emotional reaction that negatively impacts their quality of life. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the influence of training in the martial arts as an intervention in the treatment of interpersonal trauma. The biopsychosocial model provided the framework for the study. The research questions addressed the effects of training in the martial arts and the biological, psychological, and social functioning of individuals who had sustained a form of interpersonal trauma. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 9 participants. Data were analyzed using Moustakas's modified van Kamm method. Findings indicated that martial arts training was transformative and positive for participants. Benefits included mentorship, a sense of achievement, increased confidence, better parenting, and recovery from substance abuse. Findings may be used to promote martial arts training as a treatment intervention for people who have experienced interpersonal trauma.

No description available.

We conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of Mom Power, a multifamily parenting intervention to improve mental health and parenting among high-risk mothers with young children in a community-based randomized controlled trial (CB-RCT) design. Participants (N = 122) were high-risk mothers (e.g., interpersonal trauma histories, mental health problems, poverty) and their young children (age <6 years), randomized either to Mom Power, a parenting intervention (treatment condition), or weekly mailings of parenting information (control condition). In this study, the 13-session intervention was delivered by community clinicians trained to fidelity. Pre- and post-trial assessments included mothers’ mental health symptoms, parenting stress and helplessness, and connection to care. Mom Power was delivered in the community with fidelity and had good uptake (>65%) despite the risk nature of the sample. Overall, we found improvements in mental health and parenting stress for Mom Power participants but not for controls; in contrast, control mothers increased in parent-child role reversal across the trial period. The benefits of Mom Power treatment (vs. control) were accentuated for mothers with interpersonal trauma histories. Results of this CB-RCT confirm the effectiveness of Mom Power for improving mental health and parenting outcomes for high-risk, trauma-exposed women with young children.

This study investigated how therapists working with children and youth victims of interpersonal trauma (e.g. sexual abuse) are impacted by the resilience processes of their clients. Qualitative multiple case study design and thematic analysis were used to explore the research question. Four counselors working in an organization providing services to victims of trauma were interviewed and asked about how the act of bearing witness to the resilience of their clients affected their personal lives and clinical practice. The findings showed that for the participants there was an increased sense of hope and optimism, and an intense sense of being inspired by the strengths of clients as result of working with this population. To reflect about the challenges faced by clients allowed counselors to put their own challenges and strengths into perspective. In addition, they reported positive changes in their personal relationships. Further research is suggested, including further investigation about the relationship between optimism, hope and vicarious resilience processes as well as between the counseling approach adopted and the development of vicarious resilience responses. / Graduate / 0621 / 0622 / 0347 / fabianesilveira@gmail.com

Women with histories of interpersonal trauma (physical, sexual, or psychological abuse experienced during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood) are more likely to experience posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and to develop physical health problems than women without trauma histories. In fact, PTSS and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been established in the literature as mediators of the relation between interpersonal trauma and physical health outcomes (e.g., Resnick et al., 1997; Schnurr & Green, 2004). What remains to be determined is a clear understanding of the various mechanisms explaining why individuals with trauma histories, and subsequently PTS symptoms, go on to develop physical health problems. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of health risk behaviours, specifically sexual risk taking and substance use, as possible mechanisms through which interpersonal trauma and PTSS might influence physical health. These relations were examined, through structural equation modelling, in a sample of 475 women currently attending university. Models were tested separately for sexual traumas (childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault experienced during adolescence and adulthood) and nonsexual interpersonal traumas (physical and psychological maltreatment by parents in childhood, witnessing violence between parents, and intimate partner violence in their own relationships). Results indicated that PTSS severity partially mediated pathways from both types of interpersonal trauma, sexual and nonsexual, to adverse health outcomes, contributing to the existing theory that one’s psychological response to a trauma may be more important in determining physical health outcomes than the trauma itself. Furthermore, a significant indirect pathway was found to link nonsexual trauma to risky sexual behaviours through PTSS severity. In addition, PTSS severity fully mediated the relation between nonsexual trauma and substance use behaviours. These latter findings suggest that the likelihood of engaging in substance use and/or risky sexual behaviours may be greater in trauma survivors who are suffering from posttraumatic stress symptoms. Contrary to hypotheses, no significant pathways were found from risky sexual behaviours or substance use to physical health outcomes in the context of trauma variables and PTSS severity. Consequently, these health risk behaviours were not found to operate as mechanisms explaining the link from PTSS severity to physical health outcomes. Limitations and alternative hypotheses are presented. Implications for clinical interventions and recommendations for future research are discussed. / Graduate / 0621 / 0622 / 0384