Associations between parent posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and later child PTSS: Results from an international data archive

Abstract

The extant literature indicates that parent and child posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are associated. However, the magnitude of this association at different time points and in the context of covariates has been difficult to quantify due to the methodological limitations of past studies, including small sample sizes. Using data from the Prospective studies of Acute Child Trauma and Recovery Data Archive, we harmonized participant-level parent and child data from 16 studies (N = 1,775 parent–child dyads) that included prospective assessment of PTSS during both the acute and later posttrauma periods (i.e., 1–30 days and 3–12 months after exposure to a potentially traumatic event, respectively). Parent and child PTSS demonstrated small-to-moderate cross-sectional, ρs =.22–.27, 95% CI [.16,.32], and longitudinal associations, ρ =.30, CI [.23,.36]. Analyses using actor–partner interdependence models revealed that parent PTSS during the acute trauma period predicted later child PTSS. Regression analyses demonstrated that parent gender did not moderate the association between parent and child PTSS. The findings suggest that parent PTSS during the acute and later posttrauma periods may be one of a constellation of risk factors and indicators for child PTSS.