Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and injury: the moderating role of perceived social support and coping for young adults
Introduction
It has been estimated that 10–40% of individuals who experience trauma will subsequently develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Michaels et al., 1999). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV, American Psychiatric Association[APA], 2000) defines a traumatic event as something that causes serious threat to one’s life and that elicits a fear and/or helpless response from the individual. Specific traumatic experiences can include natural or technological disasters, violent crimes, abusive relationships, and sexual assaults. It is estimated that 50–60% of the United States population will experience a traumatic event (Ozer, Best, Lipsey, & Weiss, 2003). Given that the prevalence of PTSD is considered one of the most common anxiety disorders experienced among young adults (Breslau, Davis, Andreski, & Peterson, 1991), an examination of potential risk and protective factors of PTSD, and interactions among these variables, is warranted.
The present investigation focused on three factors that have been found to be related to PTSD symptoms: (1) level of perceived injury sustained during the traumatic event, (2) coping strategies, and (3) level of perceived social support. Unlike previous studies, the goal of the present study was to evaluate coping strategies and perceived social support as variables that might moderate the relationship between perceived severity of injury, as a trauma characteristic, and PTSD symptoms. An exploration of these relationships may account for individual differences in posttraumatic stress reactions in young adults.
Section snippets
Conceptual model
In an effort to determine how perceived injury severity, coping behavior, and social support are related to one another and subsequent PTSD symptomatology, it is important to review how these factors have been incorporated into developmental models of PTSD. Green, Wilson, and Lindy (1985) proposed a widely accepted psychosocial model of adult PTSD (Peterson, Prout, & Schwarz, 1991). Their conceptual model describes how the event, in consideration with the processing of that event, is the
Present study
In sum, previous research has found significant relationships between injury sustained, coping behavior, and perceived social support and PTSD. The purpose of the current study was to focus on these variables in an effort to assess whether perceived social support and coping behavior moderate the relationship between perceived injury severity and subsequent PTSD reactions. It is also essential that these variables be adequately assessed in a young adult sample given the prevalence of this
Discussion
This study investigated the importance of perceived injury severity, perceived social support, and coping behaviors in young adults’ PTSD symptomatology. Consistent with our hypotheses, more severe perceived injury predicted PTSD severity while high support from family contributed to significantly fewer symptoms. Regarding coping styles, avoidant forms of coping, specifically disengagement coping behavior, contributed significantly to the severity of PTSD, while no significant main effects for
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