Community Violence Exposure, Fatalism and Postraumatic Stress Disorder in a Sample of Educators in El Salvador PDF Download

Author: Alexandra Clara Linscott
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fate and fatalism
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Political turmoil, violence, and poverty are well known factors that have ravaged the country of El Salvador over the last century. Before his assassination, psychologist Ignacio Martin-Baró wrote extensively about the impact of these traumas on the Salvadorian people, and how the internalization of these struggles lead to a fatalistic worldview. Using measures of community violence exposure, fatalism, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the current study explored these variables in a sample of Salvadorian educators. Statistical analyses indicated a significant positive correlation between community violence exposure and PTSD, although no significant correlation between community violence exposure and fatalism was found. A third hypothesis of fatalism acting as a mediator between community violence exposure and PTSD was not supported.

Author: Amy A. Potts
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forgiveness
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Research indicates that exposure to violence and the subsequent development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) threaten vulnerable populations in high-conflict areas. As a result of civil war and residual community violence (CV), Salvadorans experience trauma in multiple contexts. This study explores the relationships between exposure to CV, forgiveness, and PTSD. Literature searches reveal a lack of trauma research in cross-cultural settings. This study utilized survey data from 193 Salvadoran teachers and administrators. Findings indicated a significant positive correlation betvieen exposure to CV and PTSD severity, and a significant negative correlation between forgiveness and PTSD severity. Contrary to the 3rd hypothesis, forgiveness was not found to moderate the relationship between CV and PTSD. Implications for caregivers in similar settings are discussed.

Author: Roanne J. Tiongson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forgiveness
Languages : en
Pages : 43

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Book Description
There is a well-established relationship between community violence (CV) exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. Few researchers, however, have examined the relationship between forgiveness and these variables both in the US and in Central America. As El Salvador ranks as one of the most violent countries in Central America, educators in this country may be particularly vulnerable to increasing levels of exposure to community violence and be at a higher risk to develop PTSD symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between CV exposure, PTSD, and forgiveness in 256 Salvadoran teachers in both public and private schools in El Salvador. Findings indicate that teachers were exposed to multiple violent events during their lifetime, and younger teachers in the study reported more violence exposure than middle aged and older participants. Older participants were more forgiving than younger participants. Results from a mediation analysis with bootstrapping indicate that the relationship between CV exposure and PTSD symptomatology was mediated by forgiveness. These results suggest that educators who were exposed to CV and who practiced forgiveness also reported fewer PTSD symptoms. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Author: Jenny Reyes Siaw
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Clinical psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
Exposure to community violence (CV) whether direct, indirect, or vicarious—can lead to adverse psychological problems such as posttraumatic stress symptoms in youth. El Salvador has been considered one of the most violent countries in Latin America (Geneva Declaration Secretariat, 2015) and as such, Salvadorian adolescents are at a higher risk of CV exposure. As youth spend a large amount of time in school, students’ perception of school cohesion may have an impact on their mental health. In this study, I tested the relationships between perception of school cohesion, the three types of CV lifetime exposure, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology in a sample of 813 Salvadorian adolescents. Results from a parallel mediation analysis with bootstrapping indicated that, after controlling for gender, age, and school type, school cohesion was significantly and negatively related to PTSD and all three levels of violence exposure. However, direct exposure was the only significant mediator between school cohesion and PTSD symptoms. Findings from this study suggested that high levels of perceived school cohesion could buffer the relationship between lifetime exposure to direct CV and adolescent endorsement of PTSD symptoms.

Author: Sherry Muterspaugh Walling
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Community development personnel
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Violence continues to plague urban communities. The impact of community violence has been widely researched in children and adolescents; however, adult members of urban communities have been largely overlooked. The current study investigated the community violence exposure of 284 urban community development workers across five U.S. cities. Exposure to community violence, history of adverse childhood experiences, and current level of posttraumatic distress were assessed in order to test the hypothesis that adverse childhood experiences moderate the relationship between community violence exposure and posttraumatic distress. The findings indicate that urban workers are exposed to high levels of community violence with 74.9% reporting direct victimization and 99% reporting indirect violence exposure. In addition, 99% of participants reported exposure to adverse childhood experiences, and 14% of the sample met the diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A multiple regression analysis confirmed that adverse childhood experiences and community violence exposure were significantly positively related to PTSD. However, the significant interaction between the two predictors was suppressing rather than enhancing, indicating the salience of ACEs over and above community violence in predicting increased PTSD symptoms when both variables are present. Implications for urban work agencies are discussed.

Author: Robin D. Blair
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forgiveness
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
The current study investigates the relation between exposure to traumatic death, forgiveness and PTSD symptoms among 193 Salvadoran teachers and administrators in an attempt to better understand the interaction of these variables in a historically highconflict setting. The author did not find a significant correlation between exposure to traumatic death and PTSD severity, but did find a moderate inverse relationship between forgiveness and PTSD severity. Because only one of these two hypothesized relationships was statistically significant, the author could not test an interaction between exposure to death and level of forgiveness related to posttraumatic stress symptoms. The author discusses the implications of this result for caregivers in similar settings.

Author: Jeanette I. Lantz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nonprofit organizations
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Research indicates community violence exposure (CVE) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are significant challenges faced by aid workers. Additionally, national aid workers have been identified as being at greater risk for PTSD than international staff. The relationship between CVE and PTSD has yet to be studied in national aid workers. Also, it is unclear if gender is an important factor in the development of PTSD in national aid workers. These variables were examined in national aid workers in Guatemala. High levels of both CVE and PTSD symptomatology were present and a significant relationship was demonstrated between the two variables. However, gender was not a significant factor in determining who was more likely to experience PTSD symptoms.

Author: Claudine C. Hyatt
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Children and violence
Languages : en
Pages : 155

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Book Description

Author: Rebecca R. Kulzer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Family social work
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
El Salvador is identified as one of the most violent countries in the world. Growing up in such context, it is likely that Salvadoran youth experience a high risk for violence exposure, including different forms of physical violence. Familial and non-familial perpetrated physical violence are associated with negative mental health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Multiple studies document the protective role of family support in attenuating negative mental health outcomes in adolescents. This study examined the fitness of mediation and moderation models for family support on the relationship between familial and non-familial physical violence and PTSD symptomatology in Salvadoran youth. Participants consisted of 797 Salvadoran youth aged 13-17 years old attending private and public schools. Both mediation and moderation models for family support, familial physical violence and adolescent PTSD symptomatology were significant. Family support did not mediate or moderate the relationship between non-familial physical violence and PTSD symptomatology. Findings underscore the protective role of family support in attenuating the relationship between familial physical violence and PTSD symptomatology. Clinical implications from this study highlight the importance of incorporating family-based interventions (e.g., family therapy, parent support) when providing psychological treatment for adolescents growing up in violent contexts in Central America.

Author: Jenel Sánchez Ramos
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Mental fatigue
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
In the aftermath of a twelve-year civil war, El Salvador consistently ranks as one of the most violent countries in the world due to a post-war surge in gang violence. With this high-conflict context as a backdrop, the aim of this study was to explore the relationships between emotional exhaustion, vicarious trauma, and self-care in a sample of 110 Salvadorian teachers. Participants, comprised of both male (23%) and female (75%) primary and secondary school teachers, ranged from ages 18-60 and represented urban (75.5%), rural (22.7%), and mixed urban-rural (1 3%) locations. Two one-tailed bivariate Pearson correlations were used to examine the variables' relationships. Findings indicated a significant positive correlation between vicarious trauma and emotional exhaustion (r =. 38,p = .01) and a significant positive correlation between lower levels of self-care practices and emotional exhaustion (r = .38,p = .01). Training in coping skills development, mindfulness, personal and classroom safety, and supportive empowerment could be crucial for teachers working in such settings. Areas for further research include examining self-care's possible moderating effects on emotional exhaustion in teachers reporting high levels of vicarious trauma and identifying differences in primary and secondary exposure to trauma in Salvadorian teachers.