The Danieli Inventory of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma, Part I: Survivors' posttrauma adaptational styles in their children's eyes
Section snippets
Overview and participants
Participants were adult children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors who volunteered to participate in a web survey. Inclusion criteria were that at least one parent or grandparent had lived in or had to leave one of the countries occupied by or under direct influence of the Nazi regime, for any period of time during 1933–1945 (Bogyeski, 2013). This wide definition increased the potential for natural variability in the severity of the ancestors' exposure and the intensity of their
Sample description
The web survey method provided a demographically and geographically diverse convenience sample. The majority of participants were women (67%). All participants spoke English (78%) or Hebrew (22%). Participants averaged 59.8 years of age (SD = 6.9), with most born immediately postwar (1945–1950, 27%) or later (47%), most frequently in North America (39%), followed by Europe (18% Western, 15% Eastern) and Palestine/Israel (16%). While many were raised in lower middle or lower class homes (49%),
Discussion
This study reports on Part I of a larger initiative aimed at developing a heretofore missing measure of the multidimensional impacts of the Holocaust on survivors and their children based on an international sample of adult children of Holocaust survivors. The results informed the creation of a 60-item set of scales for assessing adult children's perceptions of their parents' victim, numb and fighter posttrauma adaptational styles. While we did not set out specifically to test Danieli's (1985)
Role of funding source
The funding agency played no role in the research other than providing financial support.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest.
Contributors
All named authors have read and approved the manuscript and agree to the order of authorship.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grants to Yael Danieli, Principal Investigator, from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the Anti-Defamation League and Richard Rockefeller, M.D. The senior author wishes to express profound gratitude to William E. Schlenger for invaluable guidance and to John Fairbank, Harold Kudler, Daniel W. King, Lynda A. King and Robert Pietrzak for helpful suggestions. Karen Judd Smith spared no effort in building and maintaining the bilingual site, Sigal
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