This study investigated whether specific peritraumatic emotions differentially predict PTSD symptom clusters in individuals who have experienced stressful life events. Hypotheses were developed based on the SPAARS model of PTSD. It was predicted that the peritraumatic emotions of anger, disgust, guilt, and fear would significantly predict re-experiencing and avoidance symptoms, while only fear would predict hyperarousal. Undergraduate students (N = 144) participated in this study by completing a packet of self-report questionnaires. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with PCL-S symptom cluster scores as dependent variables and peritraumatic fear, guilt, anger, shame, and disgust as predictor variables. As hypothesized, peritraumatic anger, guilt, and fear all significantly predicted re-experiencing. However, only fear predicted avoidance, and anger significantly predicted hyperarousal. Results are discussed in relation to the theoretical role of emotions in the etiology of PTSD following the experience of a stressful life event.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdkinsJ. W.WeathersF. W.McDevitt-MurphyM.DanielsJ. B. (2008) Psychometric properties of seven self-report measures of posttraumatic stress disorder in college students with mixed civilian trauma exposure. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 22, 1393–1402.
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders–text revision (DSM-IV–TR). (4th ed.) Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
3.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM–5). (5th ed.) Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
4.
AmstadterA. B.VernonL. L. (2008) Emotional reactions during and after trauma: a comparison of trauma types. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 16, 391–408. DOI: 10.1080/10926770801926492.
5.
AndrewsB.BrewinC. R.StewartL.PhillpottR.HejdenbergJ. (2009) Comparison of immediate-onset and delayed-onset posttraumatic stress disorder in military veterans. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118, 767–777. DOI: 10.1037/a0017203.
6.
BeckJ. G.McNiffJ.KlappJ. D.OlsenS. A.AveryM. L.HagewoodJ. H. (2011) Exploring negative emotion in women experiencing intimate partner violence: shame, guilt, and PTSD. Behavior Therapy, 42, 740–750. DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2011.04.001.
7.
BlanchardE. B.Jones-AlexanderJ.BuckleyT. C.FornerisC. A. (1996) Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist (PCL). Behavior Research and Therapy, 34, 669–673. DOI: 10.1037/0021-843X.109.1.69.
8.
CourvilleT.ThompsonB. (2001) Use of structure coefficients in published multiple regression articles: β is not enough. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 61, 229–248. DOI: 10.1177/0013164401612006.
9.
CzarnockaJ.SladeP. (2000) Prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress symptoms following childbirth. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39, 35–51.
10.
DalgleishT. (2004) Cognitive approaches to posttraumatic disorder (PTSD): the evolution of multi-representational theorizing. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 228–260. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.228.
11.
DalgleishT.PowerM. J. (2004) Emotion-specific and emotion-non-specific components of posttraumatic stress disorder: implications for a taxonomy of related psychopathology. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 1069–1088. DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2004.05.001.
12.
DeweyD.SchuldbergD. (2013) Criterion A, peritraumatic emotions, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Traumatology, 19, 323–328. DOI: 10.1177/1534765613496650.
13.
EhlersA.ClarkD. M. (2000) A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319–345.
14.
EngelhardI. M.van den HoutM.A.McNallyR. J. (2008) Memory consistency for traumatic events in Dutch soldiers deployed to Iraq. Memory, 16, 3–9. DOI: 10.1080/09658210701334022.
15.
FoaE. B.KozakM. J. (1986) Emotional processing of fear: exposure to corrective information. Psychological Bulletin, 1, 20–35. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.99.1.20.
16.
FrazierP.AndersS.PereraS.TomichP.TennenH.ParkC.TashiroT. (2009) Traumatic events among undergraduate students: prevalence and associated symptoms. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56, 450–460. DOI: 10.1037/a0016412.
17.
GoodmanL. A.CorcoranC.TurnerK.YuanN.GreenB. L. (1998) Assessing traumatic event exposure: general issues and preliminary findings for the Stressful Life Events Questionnaire. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 11, 521–542. DOI: 10.1023/A:1024456713321.
18.
GorinA. A.StoneA. A. (2001) Recall biases and cognitive errors in retrospective self-reports: a call for momentary assessments. In BaumA.RevensonT. A.SingerJ. E. (Eds.), Handbook of health psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Pp. 405–413.
19.
GottschalkA. B. M. S.WhybrowP. C. (1995) Evidence of chaotic mood variation in bipolar disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 947–959. DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1995.0395023006100.
20.
HopwoodC. J.MoreyL. C.SheaM. T.McGlashanT. H.SanislowC. A.GriloC. M.GundersonJ. G.ZanariniM. C.SkodolA. E. (2007) Personality traits predict current and future functioning comparably for individuals with major depressive and personality disorders. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195(3), 266–269. DOI: 10.1097/01.nmd.0000253747.44836.61.
21.
HopwoodC. J.ZanariniM. C. (2010) Borderline personality traits and disorder: predicting prospective patient functioning. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78(4), 585–589. DOI: 10.1037/a0019003.
22.
KesslerR. C.BerglundP.DemlerO.JinR.MerikangasK. R.WaltersE. E. (2005) Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM–IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 593–603.
23.
KesslerR. C.SonnegaA.BrometE.HughesM.NelsonC. B. (1995) Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 1048–1060.
LalandeK. M.BonannoG. A. (2012) Retrospective memory bias for the recall of potentially traumatic events: a prospective study. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 3, 165–170. DOI: 10.1037/a0020847.
26.
LancasterS. L.MelkaS. E.RodriguezB. F. (2011) Emotional predictors of PTSD symptoms. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 3, 313–317. DOI: 10.1037/a0022751.
27.
MayerJ. D.McCormickL.J.StrongS. E. (1995) Mood-congruent memory and natural mood: new evidence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 736–746. DOI: 10.1177/0146167295217008.
28.
OlffM.KoeterM. W.Van HaaftenE. H.KerstenP. H.GersonsB. P. (2005) Impact of a foot and mouth disease crisis on post-traumatic stress symptoms in farmers. British Journal of Psychiatry, 186, 165–166. DOI: 10.1192/bjp.186.2.165.
29.
OrthU.WielandE. (2006) Anger, hostility, and posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults: a meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 698–706. DOI: 10.1037/0022-006X.74.4.698.
30.
OzerE. J.BestS. R.LipseyT. L.WeissD. S. (2003) Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and symptoms in adults: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 52–73.
31.
ReadJ. P.OuimetteP.WhiteJ.ColderC.FarrowS. (2011) Rates of DSM-IV–TR trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder among newly matriculated college students. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 3, 148–156. DOI: 10.1037/a0021260.
32.
RosenG. M.LilienfeldS. O. (2008) Posttraumatic stress disorder: an empirical evaluation of core assumptions. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 837–866. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2007.12.00.
33.
SarasonI. G.JohnsonJ. H.SiegelJ. M. (1978) Assessing the impact of life changes: development of the Life Experiences Survey. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 932–946. DOI: 10.1037/0022-006X.46.5.932.
34.
VernonL. L. (2009) The Trauma Emotion Questionnaire (TEQ): investigating the psychometric properties of a measure of peritraumatic emotional responses. Poster presented at the annual Anxiety Disorders Association of America conference, Santa Ana Pueblo, NM, March 12–15.
