Childhood Trauma as a Mediator of Intergenerational PTSD Symptom Transmission in Rwanda: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Research on intergenerational trauma (IGT) indicates a link between parent and offspring PTSD symptoms. Studies suggest that parents’ PTSD symptoms could contribute to harsh parenting practices, such as childhood maltreatment, in turn increasing risk for PTSD symptoms in their offspring. However, the potential mediating role of cumulative and subtypes of offspring childhood trauma in intergenerational PTSD symptom transmission, along with the impact of parental sex, remain understudied. This cross-sectional study examined whether the link between parent and offspring PTSD symptoms among survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda to their offspring was mediated by cumulative and subtypes of offspring childhood trauma, and how these relationships vary by parental sex. Adult children of genocide survivors, all born after the genocide (N = 166; Mage=23.03, SD = 1.94; 47.6% female), completed an online survey. We performed a series of models investigating childhood trauma as a mediator of maternal and paternal IGT transmission. We found significant indirect effects of maternal PTSD symptoms on offspring secondary PTSD symptoms via sexual abuse and physical neglect, and of paternal PTSD symptoms on offspring secondary PTSD symptoms via cumulative childhood trauma, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. The findings demonstrate variation in IGT via childhood trauma subtypes and parental sex. Future research, including longitudinal and multi-informant studies, should examine these sources of variation further to provide insight into how interventions could be tailored to prevent and mitigate the intergenerational transmission of PTSD symptoms.