Parental Trajectories of PTSD and Child Adjustment: Findings From the Building a New Life in Australia Study

Evidence suggests that the psychosocial adjustment of children of refugees may be compromised when a parent has symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We sought to determine whether trajectories of parental PTSD symptoms might relate to child adjustment and whether there is an additive effect when both parents, as opposed to just one, has prominent PTSD symptoms. We report data from the first three years of a prospective study of recent Australian humanitarian migrants: the Building a New Life in Australia study. Parental PTSD symptoms were assessed on three occasions, and latent class growth analysis was used to identify homogenous groups of parents based on their PTSD symptoms. The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire was administered to assess child psychosocial adjustment. Regression analyses were then conducted to determine whether trajectories of parental PTSD symptoms predicted child adjustment. After controlling for child age and gender, the presence of either one or both parents with persistently high PTSD symptoms was associated with children's having greater emotional difficulties and poorer overall psychosocial adjustment. Children with both parents with persistently high PTSD had higher levels of emotional difficulties than did children with a single parent with high PTSD symptoms. For emotional difficulties, though not other domains of child psychosocial adjustment, there indeed appears to be an additive impact of having two parents, rather than just one, with persistently high PTSD symptoms, although the magnitude of these effects was small. The clinical and service provision implications of these findings are discussed. Public Policy Relevance Statement High levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are common in refugees following exposure to potentially traumatic events in their country of origin or during the migration process. Within family units, the ways in which the course of parental PTSD symptoms are associated with child psychosocial adjustment are not well understood, especially when both parents, as opposed to just one, have prominent symptoms of PTSD. Our study suggests that children with one parent with persistently high PTSD symptoms are likely to have poorer emotional and overall psychosocial adjustment and that this is compounded when both parents have persistently high PTSD symptoms.