A soldier in today's armed forces is a human being called to a field containing scenes of utter inhumanity. In the course of defending family and homeland, a soldier will often be forced to see and do terrible things. As General Douglas MacArthur said, "A soldier must cease to be a man in battle." Unfortunately, the means of comforting these individuals when they return to society have not kept up with the means of destruction they operate. Still today we are confronted with the trouble of what to do when the enemies we endeavor to destroy cease to be physical and move inside the mind. Through their summer research at Hamilton, Jen Sadowsky '08 (Allendale, N.J.) and Abby Crimmins '09 (Elmira, N.Y.) are part of the effort to rebuild the minds of those who have received severe psychological shocks.
Their research this summer under the advisement of Assistant Professor of Psychology Jennifer Borton focuses on the effects of the suppression of trauma on the mind, a field drastically underdeveloped in psychology, according to Crimmins, who elaborates that, in particular, "very few studies have looked at how the type of memory affects the coping mechanism." The research was begun during the school year, in which an Internet survey was distributed to more than 1000 people nationwide, but purposefully none with any known connection to Hamilton College. Two hundred-fifty-five people responded to the survey, in which the participants were asked to write about "the most traumatic event in their lives, whatever event caused them the most emotional pain," says Sadowsky.
In addition to the description of the memory, the participants completed a questionnaire that asked questions about their self-esteem, level of depression, and anxiety level. Furthermore, the participants were asked what strategies they used to cope with the memory on a daily basis. Sadowsky said that one of the major differences between this study and others in the past was that the participants were asked to write out details concerning the traumatic memory. "Before, a study would just ask if you'd had a traumatic memory and leave it at that. We're trying to figure out how the nature of the memory affects things like self-esteem, anxiety, and coping strategies," she explains.
One of the main tasks for Crimmins and Sadowsky was to make what is known as a "coding manual." Crimmins explains that a coding manual is, "basically a way of quantifying the unquantifiable," such as the emotions or feelings of individuals taking the study. For example, the team was able to split the traumatic memories of the participants into different groups based on whether the memory had to do with death, relational issues, burglary, or other common causes of trauma. Sadowsky says that other splits were used as well. "For example, we look at whether the event happened to the participant or to someone else, whether or not the participant shows guilt, or whether the participant caused the event or not." Crimmins adds that, "we're able to judge how much distance a participant has from the trauma based on whether they write about the event in the past tense or the present tense."
Once the data has been quantified using the coding manual, the numbers are inputted into a statistical computer program that tests them for statistical significance. Sadowsky explains that, "significance is a way of statistically making sure numbers that are greater or less than each other in your study will also be that way in the general population. The larger the sample size and the bigger the difference, the more likely numbers will be significant." Statistical significance is of great importance in studies like Crimmins' and Sadowsky's because it proves different correlations between areas of memory and personality, whereas results without statistical significance leave the issue in doubt.
Although the results from the study have yet to be analyzed, Crimmins says one thing is already clear. "People who talk about their trauma have a distinctly higher self-esteem on average. Keeping traumatic memories in really hurts." Sadowsky points out that the uses of the survey results could be varied. "Soldiers coming home from war is a big one, but the results could also help people who lose relatives or friends in car crashes, or women who give birth to stillbirths." Both members of the team hope that the study encourages less secrecy about trauma. "In the military especially, the rule seems to be 'don't talk about this.' The soldiers deserve for that to change," says Crimmins.
In terms of their own self-esteem, the team has a lot to be proud of. Both Crimmins and Sadowsky are ssychology majors at Hamilton (Crimmins is minoring in Hispanic Studies, Sadowsky in education). Both of them took a 300-level psychology course with Borton called "The Study of the Self," and both were then asked if they'd like to participate in summer research. The similarities continue, as both are teaching assistants for Psychology 280 – Statistics of Psychology. Sadowsky also plays first base for Hamilton's softball team and is a member of the sorority Kappa Sigma Alpha. Crimmins is a member of the HAVOC volunteer group's executive board (she serves as annual events co-coordinator), the Ski Guild, and the Intramural Soccer program. She also regularly appears on the Hamilton old-style radio program The X-Viper Hour.
-- by Elijah Lachance '10
Their research this summer under the advisement of Assistant Professor of Psychology Jennifer Borton focuses on the effects of the suppression of trauma on the mind, a field drastically underdeveloped in psychology, according to Crimmins, who elaborates that, in particular, "very few studies have looked at how the type of memory affects the coping mechanism." The research was begun during the school year, in which an Internet survey was distributed to more than 1000 people nationwide, but purposefully none with any known connection to Hamilton College. Two hundred-fifty-five people responded to the survey, in which the participants were asked to write about "the most traumatic event in their lives, whatever event caused them the most emotional pain," says Sadowsky.
In addition to the description of the memory, the participants completed a questionnaire that asked questions about their self-esteem, level of depression, and anxiety level. Furthermore, the participants were asked what strategies they used to cope with the memory on a daily basis. Sadowsky said that one of the major differences between this study and others in the past was that the participants were asked to write out details concerning the traumatic memory. "Before, a study would just ask if you'd had a traumatic memory and leave it at that. We're trying to figure out how the nature of the memory affects things like self-esteem, anxiety, and coping strategies," she explains.
One of the main tasks for Crimmins and Sadowsky was to make what is known as a "coding manual." Crimmins explains that a coding manual is, "basically a way of quantifying the unquantifiable," such as the emotions or feelings of individuals taking the study. For example, the team was able to split the traumatic memories of the participants into different groups based on whether the memory had to do with death, relational issues, burglary, or other common causes of trauma. Sadowsky says that other splits were used as well. "For example, we look at whether the event happened to the participant or to someone else, whether or not the participant shows guilt, or whether the participant caused the event or not." Crimmins adds that, "we're able to judge how much distance a participant has from the trauma based on whether they write about the event in the past tense or the present tense."
Once the data has been quantified using the coding manual, the numbers are inputted into a statistical computer program that tests them for statistical significance. Sadowsky explains that, "significance is a way of statistically making sure numbers that are greater or less than each other in your study will also be that way in the general population. The larger the sample size and the bigger the difference, the more likely numbers will be significant." Statistical significance is of great importance in studies like Crimmins' and Sadowsky's because it proves different correlations between areas of memory and personality, whereas results without statistical significance leave the issue in doubt.
Although the results from the study have yet to be analyzed, Crimmins says one thing is already clear. "People who talk about their trauma have a distinctly higher self-esteem on average. Keeping traumatic memories in really hurts." Sadowsky points out that the uses of the survey results could be varied. "Soldiers coming home from war is a big one, but the results could also help people who lose relatives or friends in car crashes, or women who give birth to stillbirths." Both members of the team hope that the study encourages less secrecy about trauma. "In the military especially, the rule seems to be 'don't talk about this.' The soldiers deserve for that to change," says Crimmins.
In terms of their own self-esteem, the team has a lot to be proud of. Both Crimmins and Sadowsky are ssychology majors at Hamilton (Crimmins is minoring in Hispanic Studies, Sadowsky in education). Both of them took a 300-level psychology course with Borton called "The Study of the Self," and both were then asked if they'd like to participate in summer research. The similarities continue, as both are teaching assistants for Psychology 280 – Statistics of Psychology. Sadowsky also plays first base for Hamilton's softball team and is a member of the sorority Kappa Sigma Alpha. Crimmins is a member of the HAVOC volunteer group's executive board (she serves as annual events co-coordinator), the Ski Guild, and the Intramural Soccer program. She also regularly appears on the Hamilton old-style radio program The X-Viper Hour.
-- by Elijah Lachance '10
