Family cohesion as a protective factor against hopelessness among youth with ptsd symptoms

PTSD often has hopelessness and helplessness as associated features, even though they are not core nosological symptoms. This study examined overall family dysfunction associations with the associations between youth PTSD symptoms and youth hopelessness. The objectives were to: 1) determine if youth with high PTSD symptoms would endorse hopelessness less if they had better family functioning. We hypothesized that the level of family functioning would significantly moderate the relationship between PTSD and hopelessness; and 2) test if being a racial minority, female, or older child significantly influenced the level of hopelessness in youth.