Trauma Case Study Essay

The participants were scheduled in 11 groups of ten and one group of five over a 12-day period to appear for testing at their respective universities. They were advised that the research project was related to memory. No deception was used and each participant signed an informed consent. General demographic information was then collected from each participant.
Of the 175 respondents, 28 were excluded due to reported histories of major depressive disorder and 32 others were excluded based on self-reports of more than two distinct episodes of dysphoric type symptoms. The remaining 115 respondents were eventually administered the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and deemed to be of appropriate mental health status for the purposes of the current study.
During the testing phase of the study, refreshments were provided to the participants and breaks were allowed between measures. The participants first completed the BDI to assess mental health status and were also questioned about any current or previous mental health issues. None of the participants proved to suffer from significant mental health

issues. A Trauma History Screen (THS) was then administered to each participant, followed by the Cope Inventory (CI). Finally, each participant completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT).
The AMTs were administered verbally and were recorded with Sony T3056 digital audio/video recorders for later determination of memory type. Participants were provided with instructions as to what would constitute a specific memory (a detailed account of an event lasting less than one day), and were supplied with two words from the “neutral” list in order to practice specificity prior to actual testing.
Following the completion of all four measures, the participants were debriefed and released from the study.
Results
We hypothesized that the age of onset of childhood trauma would affect the development of lifelong, overgeneral autobiographical memory in otherwise healthy individuals who employed an avoidant coping style.
A chi-square test of independence was performed to examine the relation between age at onset of trauma experience and overgeneral autobiographical memory. The relationship was significant, with χ2 = 6.89, and a p value of 0.009 at a significance level of p < 05. There appeared to be a negative correlation between age at onset of trauma experience and the development of overgeneral autobiographical memory.
Thirty-four of the participants who reported having experienced trauma during the earlier stage of childhood (4-10 years of age), experienced overgeneral autobiographical memory, while only 26 of those reporting earlier-onset trauma retained specificity. In contrast, only six of the participants reporting onset of trauma experience during the latter stage of childhood (11-17 years of age) displayed overgeneral autobiographical memory, while 18 retained specificity.
Of the 73 females who participated in the study, 61 reported having experienced at least one traumatic event in childhood.

The 12 female subjects who reported no trauma experience in childhood were placed into a control group. Of the 61 female subjects who reported childhood trauma, 44 reported initial onset of the trauma experience in early childhood (4-10 years of age), and 17 reported initial onset of the trauma experience in middle childhood to adolescence (11-17 years of age). Of the 44 female participants who reported the onset of trauma in early childhood, 21 rated the trauma as severe, while 23 rated the trauma as less severe. Of the 21 female participants who rated the trauma as severe, 16 additionally reported that the trauma was chronic (occurred more than twice), and six of the 23 who rated their trauma as less severe reported that the trauma was also

chronic.
Of the 17 female participants who reported that the onset of their trauma experience was in mid-childhood to adolescence, seven rated the trauma as severe, four of those who rated the trauma as severe also reported that it was chronic, ten rated their trauma as less severe and three of the ten who rated their trauma as less severe also reported that it was chronic.
The trauma experiences reported included exposure to sexual behavior (n=21), physical assault or abuse (n=8), emotional abuse or neglect (n=5), traffic accidents (n=8), natural disasters (n=3), domestic violence (n=12), death (n=3), and divorce (n=16). Fifteen of the female participants reported some combination of these events.
Of the 42 males who participated in the study, 23 reported having experienced at least one traumatic event in childhood. The 19 male subjects who reported no trauma experience in childhood were placed into a control group. Of the 23 male subjects who reported childhood trauma, 16 reported initial onset of the trauma experience in early childhood (4-10 years of age), and seven reported initial onset of the trauma experience in middle childhood to adolescence (11-17 years of age). Of the 16 male participants who reported the onset of trauma in early childhood, six rated the trauma as severe, while ten rated the trauma as less severe. Of the six male participants who rated the trauma as severe, four additionally reported that the trauma was chronic (occurred more than twice), and three of the ten who rated their trauma as less severe reported that the trauma was also chronic.