Academic achievement among adolescents in Cambodia: Does caregiver trauma matter?

Sothy Eng, Miriam Mulsow, Harrington Cleveland, Sybil L. Hart

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

How will hostilities occurring around today's world influence future generations in affected areas? Cambodia may be one place where this question can be answered, and academic achievement is one way to measure these effects. Cambodian adolescent/caregiver dyads (n = 288) were examined for links between caregiver trauma history and adolescent academic achievement, using self reports of adolescents' relationships with caregivers, caregivers' reports of trauma history and symptoms (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire), and school records of adolescents' academic achievement. Fourteen percent of caregivers met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Overall, caregiver trauma predicted caregiver education, which then predicted caregiver warmth, but not adolescents' academic achievement. Adolescents' academic achievement was predicted by caregivers' brain-related trauma, child gender, hours taking extra classes, and father's education. Implications for community health professionals are offered.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)754-768
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Community Psychology
Volume37
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2009

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Social Psychology

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