Heightened susceptibility to secondary traumatization: A meta-analysis of gender differences.

Abstract

Although secondary traumatization has been extensively studied, gender difference in susceptibility has received limited attention. This study addressed the issue by a meta-analysis of published findings on male and female persons in close, extended relationships with trauma victims, namely, their spouses, parents, children, and therapists. The analysis included peer-reviewed studies, written in English and published between 1990 and January 2012. Twelve studies reporting 17 findings on 1,623 subjects were identified. All the studies showed females' higher susceptibility to secondary traumatization, with a mean effect size of 0.48 (95% CI [0.35, 0.60]). Moderator analysis revealed that studies conducted in the United States reported lower gender discrepancies than studies conducted elsewhere. The consistent finding that females are considerably more susceptible to secondary traumatization than males means that professionals must be made aware of the special vulnerability of girls and women and help them adopt ways of caring for the traumatized family member or clients while maintaining their own psychological boundaries.

Childhood trauma predicts antidepressant response in adults with major depression: data from the randomized international study to predict optimized treatment for depression

“…Retrospective reports of childhood trauma, such as those assessed by the ELSQ, may have some bias but also tend to err on the side of false negatives rather than false positives. 42 The prevalence of trauma reported retrospectively using the ELSQ is comparable with prevalence rates from archival records 19 suggesting that such retrospective reports are also reliable. Nonetheless, it would be important to establish the reproducibility of our findings using additional and independent measures.…”

Racial discrimination, racism-specific support, and self-reported health among African American couples

“…As a result, African American wives could be indirectly affected by the discriminatory events or the consequences of those events. This possibility is supported by the robust evidence showing that women are more susceptible to stress and trauma experienced by others in close relationships than are men (Baum, Rahav, & Sharon, 2014). Therefore, it is possible that African American wives are internalizing their husbands’ racism-related stress when providing RSS.…”

“…RSS ¼ racism-specific support; low ¼ 1 SD below the average; high ¼ 1 SD above the average. evidence showing that women are more susceptible to stress and trauma experienced by others in close relationships than are men (Baum, Rahav, & Sharon, 2014). Therefore, it is possible that African American wives are internalizing their husbands' racism-related stress when providing RSS.…”

Far away, so close: The role of self‐differentiation in psychopathology among spouses of ex‐POWs and comparable combatants

“…Women with high levels of fusion are often deeply affected by their spouse's behaviors and symptoms, even when these come in the form of minor mood swings (Skowron, 2000). In addition, in the face of blurred boundaries the woman herself may not be able to provide adequate support to her spouse, thus potentially creating a vicious cycle of distress within the couple (Baum, Rahav, & Sharon, 2014).…”