Complex Psychological Trauma: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis

Abstract

Complex psychological trauma is used to denote subtle, nuanced, and chronic experiences of trauma. Despite being prevalent in Canada, the conceptualization of complex trauma is shrouded with ambiguity. Rodgers’ evolutionary method of concept analysis was used to clarify the concept of complex trauma. Results found antecedents included psychic vulnerability, inescapable context, and perverse relationships. Attributes entailed cumulative traumatic exposure to interpersonal acts of betrayal, which generate psychological distress. Consequences involved biological, somatic, cognitive, schematic, relational, affective, and behavioural effects, as well as post-traumatic growth. Related concepts included cumulative, interpersonal, developmental, and intergenerational trauma. Findings were interpreted using perspectives from critical social theory and trauma studies literature to highlight the role of social forces in perpetuating complex trauma, allowing for examination of the social construction of traumatic contexts which produce complex trauma and its’ effects. Critique of pathologizing perspectives which situate trauma in individuals versus the social realm are discussed.