Acculturation and Mental Health

Impact Of Trauma

The long-lasting ramifications of historic and widespread trauma can transmit communally based trauma to future generations. The effects of severe hunger, war, or lack of resources within a community of one generation may lead to the transmission of negative consequences within individuals of that community within the following generation. Transgenerational trauma occurs without direct stimulus and is transmitted from a parent who has experienced a traumatic event (Davidson & Mellor, 2001). Evidence exists demonstrating that traumatic experiences increase the risk of intergenerational mental and physical health problems (Moore et al., 2022). Brom et al. (2001) suggested that trauma has been associated with various disorders in intergenerational communication within the survivors’ families and with further disturbances of identity and well-being among the second generation. Elias et al. (2012) wrote about an increase in suicides, helplessness, and hopelessness among the second generation of Canadian aborigines. Rubinstein et al. (1990) found that offspring of Holocaust survivors demonstrated greater personality problems than offspring of non-Holocaust survivors. Cloitre et al. (2009) found a significant relationship between cumulative trauma and childhood trauma since cumulative trauma influences the presence of symptoms in adulthood. Erzar (2021) cited Wollyn’s (2017) statement that unprocessed pain is expressed in victims of trauma through a variety of symptoms and is processed in subsequent generations. This can be manifested as problems with self-esteem and identity, certain types of cognitive problems, preoccupation with death, affective problems, or problems in interpersonal relationships.

Recent research studies have highlighted the differences in experiences between first-generation and second-generation trauma survivors (Schick, Moradian, and Ziegler, 2016). First-generation survivors have personally experienced a traumatic event, while second-generation survivors have been impacted by the trauma experienced by their parents or previous generations.