Loss of the Safety Signal in Childhood and Adolescent Trauma

A meta-analysis of longitudinal partial correlations between school violence and mental health, school performance, and criminal or delinquent acts.

“…The diathesis-stress framework may be useful in understanding the association between school victimization and depression. Within this framework, scholars conceptualize peer victimization as a form of psychological stress that may be traumatic for some youth (Espelage, 2012; Keenan et al, 2010; Miller & Beane, 2010). Take, for example, a definition of psychological trauma by McCann and Pearlman (1990): Psychological trauma can result when an experience is (a) sudden, unexpected, or non-normative; (b) exceeds the individual’s perceived ability to meet its demands; and (c) disrupts the individual’s frame of reference and other central psychological needs.…”