Abstract
Background: Risk factors exploring the link between trauma and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have been extensively explored in adults, however, less is known about child and adolescent populations.
Methods: The current meta-analysis aimed to systematically evaluate and summarise the child focused literature to estimate the strength of the relationship between social support and PTSD symptoms following traumatic events.
Results: Fifty primary studies reporting an effect size for the relationship between total social support scale or a source of social support with PTSD were included. A small effect size was found for the relationship between social support and PTSD (r=-0.12, 95% CI -0.16 to -0.07, k=41), with large heterogeneity (I2 = 90.3%). The effect sizes between peer support (r=-0.18, 95% CI -0.10 to -0.25, k= 12), family support (r=-0.16, 95% CI -0.09 to -0.24, k= 13) and teacher support (r=-0.20, 95% CI -0.15 to -0.24, k=5) and PTSD were also small. Moderator analyses indicated that studies reporting on participants exposed to abuse (r=-0.25) and correlations based on univariate data (r=-0.14) had higher correlations and medium heterogeneity. The main effect size was robust to publication bias and study quality.
Limitations: The cross-sectional design of the studies limits the findings and future research using prospective and longitudinal design would help to explain the relationship between social support and PTSD further.
Conclusions: The current review suggests that social support may only play a small role in protecting against PTSD and future research may benefit from exploring the link between post-trauma cognitions and social support.
Methods: The current meta-analysis aimed to systematically evaluate and summarise the child focused literature to estimate the strength of the relationship between social support and PTSD symptoms following traumatic events.
Results: Fifty primary studies reporting an effect size for the relationship between total social support scale or a source of social support with PTSD were included. A small effect size was found for the relationship between social support and PTSD (r=-0.12, 95% CI -0.16 to -0.07, k=41), with large heterogeneity (I2 = 90.3%). The effect sizes between peer support (r=-0.18, 95% CI -0.10 to -0.25, k= 12), family support (r=-0.16, 95% CI -0.09 to -0.24, k= 13) and teacher support (r=-0.20, 95% CI -0.15 to -0.24, k=5) and PTSD were also small. Moderator analyses indicated that studies reporting on participants exposed to abuse (r=-0.25) and correlations based on univariate data (r=-0.14) had higher correlations and medium heterogeneity. The main effect size was robust to publication bias and study quality.
Limitations: The cross-sectional design of the studies limits the findings and future research using prospective and longitudinal design would help to explain the relationship between social support and PTSD further.
Conclusions: The current review suggests that social support may only play a small role in protecting against PTSD and future research may benefit from exploring the link between post-trauma cognitions and social support.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 543-557 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Journal of Affective Disorders |
| Volume | 294 |
| Early online date | 16 Jul 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2021 |
Keywords
- Adolescents
- Child
- Meta-analysis
- PTSD
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Social support
