Does “Fight or Flight” Need Updating?

Bracha, H. Stefan; Ralston, Tyler C.; Matsukawa, Jennifer M.; Williams, Andrew E.; Bracha, Adam S.

doi:10.1176/appi.psy.45.5.448

Cited by 110 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…Pat-Horenczyk et al (2016) also found that mothers in Kiryat Shmona, after the Second Lebanon War, reported re-experiencing posttraumatic symptoms of military situations from childhood, but contrary to our findings, they did not find symptoms of hypervigilance. Studies that evaluated parental functioning following traumatic events in adulthood found negative parenting behaviours manifested in hyperarousal and overprotectiveness, but somewhat differently from our findings, also in withdrawal and restriction of availability to their children (Bracha et al, 2004;Scheeringa & Zeanah, 2001). Research examining the functioning of mothers who experienced trauma during military situations as adults revealed such parental behaviours as intrusiveness, overprotectiveness, a need for control over the close environment, fears, and hyperarousal (Finklestein, 2016;Kaitz et al, 2009).…”

Section: The Effects Of Childhood Under Military Conflict On Parentingcontrasting

confidence: 80%

“…Nonetheless, many parents find it difficult to regulate their emotional responses following a traumatic event or significant stress, and the more distressed they are, the less capable they are of supporting their children emotionally (Cohen, 2009;Harel & Kaminer, 2014). The negative effects of trauma or stressful situations on parents' functioning and skills can manifest in such behaviours as hyperarousal (Bracha, Ralston, Matsukawa, Williams, & Bracha, 2004), overprotectiveness, (Kaitz, Levy, Ebstein, Faraone, & Mankuta, 2009), less availability to meet the child's needs (Scheeringa & Zeanah, 2001), a tendency to minimise the effect of trauma on the child (Kaufman-Shriqui et al, 2013), disregard for the child's symptoms, and parental behaviours that induce feelings of shame and anxiety in the child (Lang, Gartstein, Rodgers, & Lebeck, 2010). Moreover, studies provide evidence of intergenerational transmission of trauma from parents to children.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parenting among mothers exposed to ongoing military conflict in childhood: An exploratory study

2019

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Mothers living in areas exposed to ongoing military conflict are at higher risk for psychological difficulties, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, than those not living in such areas. The aim of this two‐part exploratory study was twofold. The first aim was to examine differences between mothers who grew up under ongoing military conflict in childhood and mothers who did not grow up in affected areas in terms of their levels of differentiation of self and parental self‐efficacy (PSE). The second aim was to identify and describe the parenting experiences of mothers who were exposed to military conflict in childhood. In Part 1 of the study, the sample included 120 mothers (half of whom reported on being exposed to ongoing military conflict in childhood). Findings showed that mothers exposed to ongoing military conflict in childhood reported lower levels of differentiation of self and PSE than their counterparts. In Part 2, 10 mothers who were exposed to ongoing military conflict as children were interviewed about their experience as parents and their PSE. Results indicated that the mothers felt their childhood experiences affected their parenting and PSE negatively, resulting in anxiety, difficulty dealing with stress and sometimes posttraumatic symptoms as well as parental patterns of overprotectiveness, separation anxiety and intergenerational transmission of anxiety. The results highlight the consequences of exposure to ongoing military conflict during childhood on levels of differentiation of self and parenting practices.

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Section: The Effects Of Childhood Under Military Conflict On Parentingcontrasting

confidence: 80%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Parenting among mothers exposed to ongoing military conflict in childhood: An exploratory study

2019

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“…How these diverse mechanisms interact with one another to produce a resilient or vulnerable phenotype is challenging. Further adding to this complexity is the idea that resilience is also a dynamic process ( Bracha et al., 2004 , Rutter, 2006 ). The phenotypes associated with resilience may be stressor specific so that an individual resilient in one stress context to certain outcomes may not be resilient in a different context and/or to other outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, under conditions where a weaker organism is confronted with a life-threatening situation involving a predator, passive immobility rather than fighting and struggling will likely increase the chance of survival. Therefore passive immobility may be considered adaptive under conditions where there is no possibility of escaping or winning the fight ( Bracha et al., 2004 ). Therefore the concept of a particular coping strategy leading to healthy adaption must be a fluid concept; a specific coping strategy may be considered adaptive in one context and maladaptive in another.…”

Section: Coping Influences Individual Differences In Reactivity To Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience to the effects of social stress: Evidence from clinical and preclinical studies on the role of coping strategies

Wood

Bhatnagar

2015

Neurobiology of Stress

146

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The most common form of stress encountered by people stems from one’s social environment and is perceived as more intense than other types of stressors. One feature that may be related to differential resilience or vulnerability to stress is the type of strategy used to cope with the stressor, either active or passive coping. This review focuses on models of social stress in which individual differences in coping strategies produce resilience or vulnerability to the effects of stress. Neurobiological mechanisms underlying these individual differences are discussed. Overall, the literature suggests that there are multiple neural mechanisms that underlie individual differences in stress-induced resilience and vulnerability. How these mechanisms interact with one another to produce a resilient or vulnerable phenotype is not understood and such mechanisms have been poorly studied in females and in early developmental periods. Finally, we propose that resilience may be stress context specific and resilience phenotypes may need to be fine-tuned to suit a shifting environment.

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“…Usually called as a “playing dead” response in animals, TI is a consequence of a predatory attack in the wild when resistance is not successful [3], [4]. In laboratory studies, the induced state of immobility may persist from several seconds to hours after removal of restraint [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural Validity of the Tonic Immobility Scale in a Population Exposed to Trauma: Evidence from Two Large Brazilian Samples

et al. 2014

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BackgroundTonic Immobility is a temporary state of motor inhibition in situations involving extreme fear. The first scale developed for its assessment was the 10-item Tonic Immobility Scale (TIS). However, there are still few studies on its structural (dimensional) validity. The objective of this study was to reassess the factor structure of the TIS applied to representative samples exposed to general trauma of two Brazilian mega-cities.MethodsThe sample comprised 3,223 participants reporting at least one traumatic experience. In São Paulo (n = 2,148), a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) first tested the originally proposed two-dimensional structure. This was followed by sequential Exploratory Structural Equation Models to identify the best fitting model, and subsequently tested in Rio de Janeiro (n = 1,075) via CFA. Alternative reduced versions were further explored using the aggregate sample. Model-based Item Response Theory (IRT) location parameters were also investigated.ResultsAn absence of factor-based convergent and discriminant validity rejected the original proposition. However, the one-dimensional structure still held several residual correlations. Further exploration indicated the sustainability of reduced versions with seven (alternative A) and six (alternative B) items. Both presented excellent fit and no relevant residual item correlation. According to the IRT location parameters, items in alternative B covered a wider range of the latent trait. The Loevinger's H scalability coefficients underscored this pattern.ConclusionsThe original model did not hold. A one-factor solution was the most tenable in both large samples, but with significant item residual correlations, indicating that content redundancies persisted. Further reduced and simplified versions of the TIS proved promising. Although studies are yet to be carried out in other settings, it is the authors' impression that the restricted versions of the TIS are already apt for use in epidemiologic studies since the pros tend to outweigh the cons (as outlined in the Discussion section).

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Does “Fight or Flight” Need Updating?

Cited by 110 publications

References 5 publications

Parenting among mothers exposed to ongoing military conflict in childhood: An exploratory study

Parenting among mothers exposed to ongoing military conflict in childhood: An exploratory study

Resilience to the effects of social stress: Evidence from clinical and preclinical studies on the role of coping strategies

Structural Validity of the Tonic Immobility Scale in a Population Exposed to Trauma: Evidence from Two Large Brazilian Samples

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