Managing Stress and School: The Role of Posttraumatic Stress in Predicting Well-Being and Collegiate Burnout

Abstract

Experiencing a traumatic event is generally posited to increase vulnerability. Informed by a stress process framework, this study investigated the relation of posttraumatic stress to depressive symptoms, risky drinking, and school burnout in emerging adulthood, a developmental period during which common behavioral and psychological disorders reach their peak. Whether self-control acts as a mechanism linking posttraumatic stress to these outcomes was also examined. Using a short-term longitudinal design (N = 373 undergraduate students), we found a direct, positive association between heightened levels of posttraumatic stress and heightened depressive symptoms, risky drinking, and school burnout. Posttraumatic stress was also indirectly linked to depressive symptoms, risky drinking, and school burnout via self-control. Experiences of posttraumatic stress are thought to erode self-control capacity, and depleted self-control is thought to be adversely associated with mental health, decision-making, and school success. Implications for intervention across multiple lines of defense are discussed.

Keywords

depression posttraumatic stress alcohol use/abuse school burnout self-control college

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