Trauma is a response consisting of emotional, cognitive, physical, spiritual, and social adaptive abilities following an event that was perceived as life-threatening to oneself or others. Trauma can be an event that is either one-time, prolonged, or part of a series of incidents.
Primary vs. Secondary Trauma
Primary trauma may occur as an emotional or cognitive response to experiencing or witnessing a potentially life threatening or life altering event first hand. Examples of primary trauma that immigrants may face include violence, detention, family separation, and chronic lack of resources necessary to sustain life.
Secondary trauma may result from learning about the firsthand traumatic experiences of another. It can be described as the stress resulting from helping or wanting to help a traumatized or suffering person. Examples of secondary trauma that immigrants may face include witnessing violence perpetrated against others and witnessing accidents causing severe bodily harm. School professionals, including teachers, guidance counselors, and other school support staff may also experience secondary trauma upon learning of the traumatic experiences of their students.
Acute vs. Chronic Trauma
Although mild to moderate levels of stress can be beneficial to brain development, chronic stress can be associated with negative physical health consequences. Biological trauma can be characterized as a traumatic event or series of chronic traumatic events that activate the body’s biological toxic stress response (i.e. severe or chronic stress). Physical changes in the brain, especially in the regions that control emotion and fear, and hormonal imbalances occur throughout the body as a result of repeated and unpredictable stress (Lacona and Johnson 2018). Other physical symptoms may include chronic pain, problems with the digestive and cardiopulmonary systems, and effects on one’s sleep schedule.Acute trauma is associated with a single event. Examples of acute trauma that immigrants may experience or witness including accidents, amputation, and death.
Chronic trauma results from incidents that occur repeatedly. Examples that immigrants may experience or witness include: chronic poverty, resource vulnerability, and ongoing exposure to violence and conflict.
Resilience to Trauma
Resilience is the buffering, through successful coping, against adverse outcomes after exposure to traumatic experiences (Ortiz and Sibinga 2017). Without resilience, one is more predisposed to conditions like PTSD and unfavorable health consequences. The positive adaptation that is characteristic of resilience is associated with a number of protective and promotive factors. Strong social ties with families and friends serve as a source of strength for rural Latinx families (Raffaelli et al. 2012). Skills and knowledge that allow individuals to be productive within a certain specialty, educational levels, familiarity with the U.S., accumulated economic capital, and English language fluency help immigrants and their families navigate any prior or current traumatic events. On the other hand, risk factors serve to exacerbate the stressful environments that Latinx immigrants face. The lack of Spanish-speaking professionals, public transportation, affordable housing, and an ethnic enclave makes it more difficult for migrants to adapt and integrate into American society (Raffaelli et al. 2012). They also face discrimination and the lack of insurance that represent common barriers to health care access. Immigrants must then rely on their own skills and social ties to cope with the aftereffects of trauma.
Resilience can be described as the process of adapting well in the face of trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress.