1 Running head: TRAUMA, PROTECTION, AND DISTRESS IN LATE ADOLESCENCE

Trauma, Protection, and Distress in Late Adolescence: A Multi-Determinant Approach Valerie A. Futch Beth Spenciner Rosenthal W. Cody Wilson York College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York

2 Running head: TRAUMA, PROTECTION, AND DISTRESS IN LATE ADOLESCENCE

Abstract This empirical study investigated the multivariable relationship between psychological distress and the combination of a set of four trauma events (victim of violence, witness of violence, victim of accidents, and interpersonal loss) and a set of four protective factors (emotional social support, sense of personal efficacy, easygoing temperament, and gender) among a sample of 1,066 graduating high school seniors in a large urban community. Each of the eight independent variables had a statistically significant zero-order correlation with psychological distress. The set of eight variables (four trauma and four protective) had a multiple correlation of R = .61 with psychological distress accounting for 38% of the variance (considered a very large effect size by Cohen (1988)). The protective factors had a larger effect on psychological distress than did the trauma variables. The study demonstrates the desirability of using a multi- determinant approach rather than a single-determinant approach in the study of psychological distress. Key Words: Distress; determinant, trauma; late adolescence

3 Running head: TRAUMA, PROTECTION, AND DISTRESS IN LATE ADOLESCENCE

Trauma, Protection, and Distress in Late Adolescence: A Multi-Determinant Approach This empirical study reconnoitered the multivariable relationship between psychological distress and the combined effects of exposure to traumatic experiences and the presence of protective factors among 1, 066 graduating high school seniors. The title of the study visibly pinpoints the independent and dependent variables. The independent variables in this study were four traumatic events and four protective factors. The four traumatic events were victim of violence, witness of violence, victim of accidents, and interpersonal loss (pg. 693). The four protective factors were emotional social support, sense of personal efficacy, easygoing temperament, and gender (pg.693). The dependent variable was psychological distress. Teenagers with psychological distress exhibited signs of anger, anxiety, and depression. Protective factors were characteristics and conditions that deteriorated psychopathology when coincided with trauma. The hypothesis of the present study was that a combination of exposure to several traumatic events and the presence of several factors would account for a substantial amount of variance in the manifestation of psychological distress symptoms among late adolescents (pg.694). To begin with, from the introduction section I learned that psychological distress was common among teenagers. The historical background of the research topic shows that onequarter of adolescents have gone through major depressive disorder and one-half of older adolescents demonstrate moderate levels of depressive systems (pg.693). In addition, there have been diverse studies that endeavored to detect the causes of psychological distress and discovered that traumatic events were somehow linked to it. The discovery of traumatic events was minor which triggered the awareness that not everyone who faced trauma developed

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psychological distress due to protective factors. The earlier research findings that are given as most relevant to this study was the link between psychological distress with traumas to be for community violence r = .25, childhood sexual abuse r = .13 to r = .21, domestic violence r = .15 disasters r = .17, accidents r = .25, and interpersonal loss r = .25 (pg.693). These findings helped to develop the independent variables of the study. Theoretical explanations that are emphasized in this section is how the low empirical correlations between psychological distress and trauma and protective variablesmay be an artifact of a single-determinant of behavior. Also, when a behavior has several factors, it places limitations on the range of correlation between the behavior and size of the factors. Furthermore, from the method section I learned that the study used the appropriate methods. The author employed the methods correctly because they collected information using a printed questionnaire, distributed by trained undergraduate research assistants, later analyzed by hierarchical multiple regression using SPSS. The subjects of the study were 1,066 older adolescents. The authors approach to supporting the thesis made sense because they used adolescents similar in age living in a large urban center and dissimilar in the type of school attended, gender, economic status, and race/ethnicity (pg. 694). All measurement was based on self- report. For instance, Undergoing an accident and gender was measured by a single selfreport item (pg. 695). Psychological distress was measured by an additive scale. For example, Emotional social support was measured by a six-item additive scale. Sense of personal efficacy was measured by a seven-item additive scale. Easygoing temperament was measured by a twoitem additive scale (pg. 695). Three models were tested in the study: trauma variables alone; protective variables alone; and trauma and protective variables together. The Trauma Symptom

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Inventory scale revealed the rate of feeling signs of anger, anxiety, and depression during the past two months. The victim and witness of violence items were modified from the NIMH Survey of Exposure to Community Violence. The quantities in the Interpersonal loss scale were modified from the Negative Life Events Scale. Additionally, from the results of the study I learned that the sample wasdiverse on all of the variables (695). The kinds of statistical procedures that were applied in the study were the median level of psychological distress being equal to experiencing all 25 of the symptoms during the previous two months, the variability within the sample of exposure to trauma during high school years, and the variability within the presence of protective factors were all the ways the author supported the thesis (pg. 695). From Table One, the author presents evidence in support of the thesis, I learned that the relationship between the four trauma variables and distress was R = .35, which accounted for 12% of the change in psychological distress symptoms. In contrast, the relationship between the four types of protective factors and psychological distress was R = .52 which accounted for 26% of the change in distress. The relationship between psychological distress and the combined trauma and protective variables was R = .61 which accounted for 38% of the change in distress. In addition, the result of the protective factors was 2 times the result of the trauma variables. The strengths of the results the authors said were statistically significant were all eight of the independent variables, traumatic events and protective factors, were statistically associated with psychological distress. Through my own research, Kerrie Glasss article studied the relation of coping strategies, social support, and hope to psychological distress among Hurricane Katrina survivors. The research questions concerned whether different coping strategies (problem-focused or avoidant

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coping), perceptions of social support, and hope were associated with psychological distress within this sample, as well as whether level of hope moderated the relations between coping/social support and psychological distress.. The contribution of her article to a better understanding of the subject is she supports how one of the independent variables, victims of violence, develops distress among people. Protective factors like hope weakened the relation between avoidant coping and psychological distress. Joyce Walkers article helped better understand the subject because she delves into common causes and responses to distress among adolescents. The most common causes were break up with boy/girlfriend, increased arguments with parents or between parents, trouble with brother or sister, and serious illness or injury of family member. It also reveals how traumatic events among teens is centered in their home and school life. Also, that that teens find protective factors, internal and external, to cope with the distress they are faced when dealing with traumatic events in their life. Mijanovichs article discussed how a national U.S. telephone survey fielded before and after September 11, 2001, was used to investigate the psychological distress among American adolescents related to the attacks, and to identify environmental and other characteristics that predisposed youth to experience higher or lower levels of post-disaster distress. The contribution of Mijanovichs article to a better understanding to the subject is he provides how the traumatic events of 9/11 caused great psychological distress among teens. The article from Rhode Island Family Guide discusses teenage stress factors, signs of distress, and stress management techniques that can help teens deal with distress. The article gives a better understanding of the subject because it talks about how adolescence is a period of

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significant change, including physical, emotional, social, and academic changes and that many teens are under more stress than at any other time of life. Renee Newcomers article examined types of posttraumatic distress associated to sport injury among fit and hurt adolescent athletes. The contribution of Newcomers article to a better understanding of the subject is it that adolescent athletes may be particularly sensitive to injuryrelated stimuli, which may result in heightened injury-related distress. Overall, my evaluation of the article has helped me learn that the hypothesis, that traumatic events and protective factors demonstrated psychological distress among late teens, was proven. From the authors results they say that the several correlation between the eight variables was R = .61 which accounted for 38% of the change in psychological distress (pg. 696). The result confirms the argument that psychological distress is multi-determined and that the research should use multi-variable designs. Alternative explanations the authors provide is how he research brings to attention the need of taking into consideration multiple types of trauma experience when trying to understand the occurrence of psychological distress in adolescent, as well as the necessity of considering the presence of protective factors in conjunction with trauma experience in understanding psychological distress (pg. 696). Additional discoveries of the study need to be distinguished. For example, traumatic events like Victim of Violence, Witness of Violence, Interpersonal Loss, and Accidents display the high amounts of exposure to theoretically traumatic events for older adolescents in urban areas. The results in this study also show that these adolescents are also categorized by high levels of protective influences. However, if protective resources are not present among adolescents it creates a defenselessness state which may evolve into psychological distress. The research has

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three limitations. The first is the utilization of a convenient purposive sample rather than a probability sample (pg.697). Another limitation in the study is it considers a somewhat restricted set of both potentially traumatic events and of protective factors (pg.697). The third limitation is it uses a correlational rather than an experimental research design (pg.697). Future research studies that were suggested were how the results of the study might motivate new ways to stop or improve psychological distress. In brief, the kinds of ideas this article made me think about was how using a multideterminant approach is sometimes used to investigate a study rather than a single-determinant. Also, I learned that there are diverse factors for the cause of psychological distress. I was fascinated how psychological distress was caused by traumatic events, but at the same time not everyone experiences it due to family support. Parents and teachers will all benefit from reading this article because it will help them better understand their children and students when they are faced with distress. They will know how to better handle the situation when they try to help their student or child. A similar study I can design base on the topic is to see the relationship between psychological distress and the combination of a set of traumatic events which are cyber bulling, teen pregnancy, and homosexuality. I hypothesize that homosexuality will have the most amount of distress among teens. The reason for choosing these three independent variables is because they major concerns among teenagers today.