title: Secondary traumatization among former prisoners of wars' adult children: the mediating role of parental bonding.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aversive impact of combat and parents' combat-induced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on young children has been examined in a few studies. However, the long-term toll of war captivity on secondary traumatization (ST) and the parental bonding of adult children remain unknown. This study examined ST symptoms and parental bonding among adult children of former prisoners of war (ex-POWs' children) that were compared to adult children of comparable veterans (controls' children). Furthermore, we examined the mediating role of parental bonding and exposure to stress in the association between group and ST symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  A correlative, cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were Israeli ex-POWs' children (N = 98) and controls' children (N = 90), whose fathers fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. All participants completed a battery of self-reported questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ex-POWs' children reported a higher number of ST symptoms and lower levels of fathers' care, as compared to controls' children. Importantly, exposure to stress stemming from fathers' behaviors and fathers' care was found to mediate the association between research group and ST.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Forty years after the war ended, the experience of living with ex-POWs is associated with ex-POWs' children psychological outcome.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Behavioral Sciences , Ariel University , Ariel , Israel.
authors.forename: Gadi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zerach
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aloni
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D032721:Adult Children / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D063906:Prisoners of War / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ex-POWs' adult children; parental bonding; posttraumatic stress disorder; prisoners of war; secondary traumatization