Secondary trauma: Assessing inter-generational transmission of war experiences with a modified Stroop procedure

Abstract

Intergenerational transmission of war experiences was assessed using a modified Stroop task. Adult children of war veterans and those of nonveterans named the colors in which war related words were printed. They also named the colors of neutral, positive, and OCD related words in addition to color naming a series of zeros contained on a control card. All participants completed the MMPI-II PTSD Scale, the Impact of Event Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. A statistically significant difference between the children of veterans and nonveterans was found only on the Stroop card containing war related words. Results suggest that the modified Stroop task is a sensitive measure that may have value in assessing transmission of war experiences from parents to children.

Intergenerational transmission of biased information processing in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following displacement after World War II

“…Our results seem to diverge from previous studies (e.g., Constans, 2005;Moradi et al, 1999;Motta et al, 1994Motta et al, , 1997Suozzia & Motta, 2004) that rather consistently found a modified Stroop effect in PTSD. However, a recent review summarizing results of dissertation abstracts challenges the assumption of a robust and specific modified Stroop effect in PTSD, suggesting that the effect might be overestimated by a combination of "file drawer" and "top drawer" effects (Kimble et al, 2009).…”

“…In two studies, adult offspring of Vietnam veterans and children of nonveterans were compared on their color-naming latencies (Motta, Joseph, Rose, Suozzi, & Leiderman, 1997;Motta, Suozzi, & Joseph, 1994). The first study by Motta et al (1994) revealed that mean differences in color-naming latencies for the PTSD card were 3-10 times bigger than the mean color-naming latencies of all other Stroop cards (OCD, positive, neutral) between children of veterans and children of nonveterans.…”

“…The first study by Motta et al (1994) revealed that mean differences in color-naming latencies for the PTSD card were 3-10 times bigger than the mean color-naming latencies of all other Stroop cards (OCD, positive, neutral) between children of veterans and children of nonveterans. The second study by Motta et al (1997) found that only the offspring of Vietnam veterans took longer to color-name trauma-relevant words relative to the children of nonveterans and to all other word types (OCD, positive, neutral). Moradi, Neshat-Doost, Taghavi, Yule, and Dalgleish (1999) extended these findings to a group of children and adolescent offspring.…”

Long-Term Trajectories and Service Needs for Military Families

“…Children of Vietnam veterans did not differ from children of non-veterans on measures of psychopathology as measured via MMPI-II scales, on trauma-related intrusion and avoidance symptoms, or on responses to a modified Stroop task, except for a longer response latency for war-related words, demonstrating that these words were associated with higher levels of emotionality (Motta et al 1997). Dansby and Marinelli (1999), however, showed that children of Vietnam veterans, regardless of the veteran's PTSD status, differed from children of non-veterans in the following: more behavioral problems, higher levels of depression, a less favorable attitude toward their fathers, elevated apprehension, elevated tension, elevated anxiety, and lower levels of creativity.…”

Psychometric Characteristics of Secondary Trauma Questionnaire (STQ) in Warfare

“…STQ was designed by Motta, Joseph, Rose, Suozzi, Leiderman [12] based on PTSD symptoms in DSM-IV and Figley's Compassion Fatigue Self-Stress Test [10]. The purpose of present study was to investigate some psychometric characteristics of STQ in wives of warfare victims.…”