title: Transgenerational transmission of trauma in families of Holocaust survivors: the consequences of extreme family functioning on resilience, sense of coherence, anxiety and depression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The psychological transmission of the noxious effects of a major trauma from one generation to the next remains unclear. The present study aims to identify possible mechanisms explaining this transmission among families of Holocaust Survivors (HS). We hypothesized that the high level of depressive and anxiety disorders (DAD) among HS impairs family systems, which results in damaging coping strategies of their children (CHS) yielding a higher level of DAD.
  
  
  METHODS
  49 CHS completed the Resilience Scale for Adults, the Hopkins Symptom Check List-25, the 13-Item Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale, and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale. We test a mediation model with Family types as the predictor; coping strategies (i.e. Resilience or SOC) as the mediator; and DAD as the outcome variable.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results confirm that the CHS׳ family types are more often damaged than in general population. Moreover, growing in a damaged family seems to impede development of coping strategies and, therefore, enhances the occurrence of DAD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present investigation is correlational and should be confirmed by other prospective investigations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  At a theoretical level we propose a mechanism of transmission of the noxious effects of a major trauma from one generation to the next through family structure and coping strategies. At a clinical level, our results suggest to investigate the occurrence of trauma among parents of patients consulting for DAD and to reinforce their coping strategies.
authors.affiliation: Brugmann University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fossion
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. Electronic address: chleys@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leys
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Department, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vandeleur
authors.affiliation: Erasme University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kempenaers
authors.affiliation: Erasme University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.affiliation: Brugmann University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verbanck
authors.affiliation: Erasme University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Linkowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D015984:Causality; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D017767:Holocaust / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D060685:Sense of Coherence; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Holocaust; Resilience; Sense of Coherence; Transgenerational transmission; Trauma