Women are significantly more likely to experience certain types of stress and trauma, though not enough is currently available to counselors and social workers about how to assess and treat trauma-related issues in females. Women not only process information and react differently than males but are also affected by hormones and emotions differently. In addition, females face particular stresses at each developmental stage from the pressures of adolescence to childbearing to simultaneous mothering for children and aging parents. The Handbook of Women, Stress and Trauma focuses on the stresses and traumas that are unique to the lives of women. It is the first text to merge research from the fields of trauma and women's health. Using a lifespan developmental approach, the text begins by addressing specific issues that women face at various stages in their lives, drawing upon theories of development and exploring how women's relationships with others buffer-or sometimes cause-stress and trauma. Subsequent sections of the handbook focus on stress and trauma in the lives of mothers; the spectrum of violence against women; and stress and trauma in special populations of women, including women of color, women with disabilities and lesbians. Contents: K. Kendall-Tackett, Introduction: Women's Experiences of Stress and Trauma. Part 1: Stress and Trauma in Lifespan Perspective. K. Scott, J. Eliav, Relational Stress and Trauma in the Lives of Girls and Teens. K. Kendall-Tackett, Caught in the Middle: Stress in the Lives of Young Adult Women. K. Kendall-Tackett, Trauma Associated with Perinatal Events: Birth Experience, Infertility, Childbearing Loss. J. Rysberg, Stress and Trauma in the Lives of Middle Aged and Old Women. Part 2: The Specter of Violence Against Women. K.C. Basile, Sexual Violence in the Lives of Girls and Women. J. Campbell, K. Kendall-Tackett, Intimate Partner Violence: Implications for Women's Physical and Mental Health. L.R. Bergeron, Abuse of Elderly Women in Family Relationships: Another Form of Violence Against Women. S.Dallam, Health Issues Associated with Violence against Women. J. D. Bremner, The Neurobiology of Childhood Sexual Abuse in Women with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Part 3: Stress and Trauma in Women of Colour, Women with Disabilities and Lesbian Women. M.E. Banks, R.J. Ackerman, B.W.K. Yee, C.M. West, Stress and Trauma in the Lives of Women of Color. L. Mona, R.P. Cameron, D. Crawford, Stress and Trauma in the Lives of Women with Disabilities. B. Hyman, Heterosexism and Violence in the Lives of Lesbian Women: Implications for Mental Health. Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, Ph.D., is a Research Associate at the Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, where her recent interests include health effects of victimization, maternal stress and depression, victimization and disability, breastfeeding. |
