The intergenerational transmission of trauma in Cambodian skipped-generation households

Abstract

While the second generational effect of Khmer Rouge trauma has been extensively studied, research on its longer-term impacts into the third generation is limited, especially given a sizable number of Khmer Rouge survivors have now become grandparents who serve as primary caregivers to their grandchildren when parents migrate. Using a multilevel theoretical framework, this thesis explores how grandmothers’ lifetime trauma is transmitted across generations in Cambodian skipped-generation households. The first level is context-specific on migration, particularly the caregiving role of grandmothers. The second level focuses on family dynamics, using attachment theory and parenting styles. The third level delves into grandmothers' individual trauma histories, cumulative trauma, and coping mechanisms. This multi-level approach offers a comprehensive perspective on the complexity of trauma transmission within Cambodia’s unique socio-cultural and historical context.

This thesis commenced with a systematic review on mechanisms of genocidal trauma transmission. Several research gaps were identified, i) lacking mixed-method design in investigating intergenerational trauma, ii) neglecting non-genocidal trauma among survivors (e.g., childhood trauma), iii) ignoring the contextual and cultural factors within which genocide survivors and their offspring live, and iv) lacking third-generation studies.

To address these research gaps, this thesis conducted a mixed-method research design across four studies.

Study 1 investigated parental style in the intergenerational transmission of trauma in the second and third generations. The findings highlighted the unique effect of

ii grandmothers’ trauma symptoms on their daughter’s depression via their role reversing parenting. Despite the non-significant indirect effect on the grandchildren’s generation, a direct effect via symptomatology was found between the grandchildren's depression and grandmothers' trauma symptoms.

Study 2 explored the association between grandchildren’s nutritional status and grandmother caregivers’ trauma and distress. A significant relationship was found between grandmother caregivers' distress and nutrition among grandchildren aged 0-3. The household food insecurity appears to exacerbate psychological distress among grandmother caregivers, which further affects grandchildren’s nutritional status.

Study 3 uncovered narrative responses to lifetime trauma among grandmothers using a Lifeline method of interview. The concept of karma in Buddhism was used to make meaning of trauma, and the idiom ‘stop thinking’ helps grandmothers halt excessive rumination. These coping mechanisms foster acceptance of past trauma and promote peace of mind through religious participation and practices, which contribute to trauma recovery.

Study 4 explored the biomarker for PTSD. The findings suggested complex interplay between accumulated trauma, emotional states, and physiological stress responses. Cultural context in coping with trauma along with suppression of recounting trauma have complicated the emotional reprocessing of trauma among grandmothers. That in turn, influences the reliability of cortisol levels during trauma recollection.

The collective findings of this thesis emphasize the profound and multifaceted impacts of historical trauma and contemporary trauma of grandmothers on their children and grandchildren. The secondary traumatization linked to grandmothers' trauma provides a broader societal implication for the intergenerational transmission of trauma among Cambodian skipped-generation households. The coping mechanisms adopted by the grandmothers provide a culturally specific framework that contributes to trauma recovery and the need for sensitive and culturally informed interventions to treatment of trauma.