Parental Stress as a Mediator between Emotion Regulation and Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology in Trauma-Exposed Children

Women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) are at heightened risk for developing posttraumatic stress (PTS). Emotion dysregulation has been linked to both IPV and PTS, separately, however, unknown is the role of emotion dysregulation in the relation of IPV to PTS among women who experience IPV. Moreover, existing investigations in this area have been limited in their focus on negative emotion dysregulation. Extending prior research, this study investigated whether physical, sexual, and psychological IPV were indirectly associated with PTS symptom severity through negative and positive emotion dysregulation. Participants were 354 women who reported a history of IPV recruited from Amazon’s MTurk platform ( Mage = 36.52, 79.9% white). Participants completed self-report measures assessing physical (Conflict Tactics Scale), sexual (Sexual Experiences Scale), and psychological (Psychological Maltreatment of Women) IPV; negative (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale) and positive (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Positive) emotion dysregulation; and PTS symptom severity (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5) via an online survey. Pearson’s correlation coefficients examined intercorrelations among the primary study variables. Indirect effect analyses were conducted to determine if negative and positive emotion dysregulation explained the relations between physical, sexual, and psychological IPV and PTS symptom severity. Physical, sexual, and psychological IPV were significantly positively associated with both negative and positive emotion dysregulation as well as PTS symptom severity, with the exception that psychological IPV was not significantly associated with positive emotion dysregulation. Moreover, negative and positive emotion dysregulation accounted for the relationships between all three IPV types and PTS symptom severity, with the exception of positive emotion dysregulation and psychological IPV. Our findings provide support for the potential underlying role of both negative and positive emotion dysregulation in the associations of IPV types to PTS symptom severity. Negative and positive emotion dysregulation may be important factors to integrate into interventions for PTS among women who experience IPV.

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"Changes in emotion regulation in adults with and without a history of childhood abuse following posttraumatic stress disorder treatment": Correction to Jerud et al. (2014).

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology ◽

10.1037/a0036931 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 82 (4) ◽

pp. 730-730

Keyword(s):

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽

Emotion Regulation ◽

Posttraumatic Stress ◽

Childhood Abuse ◽

Stress Disorder ◽

History Of Childhood ◽

History Of ◽

Disorder Treatment

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Effectiveness of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders Among Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Study

Behavior Modification ◽

10.1177/0145445517724539 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

pp. 210-230 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ruth L. Varkovitzky ◽

Andrew M. Sherrill ◽

Greg M. Reger

Keyword(s):

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽

Emotion Regulation ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Posttraumatic Stress ◽

Emotional Disorders ◽

Symptom Severity ◽

Stress Disorder ◽

Transdiagnostic Treatment ◽

Unified Protocol

Effective treatment options are needed for veterans who do not participate in trauma-focused psychotherapy. Research has yet to examine the effectiveness of transdiagnostic psychotherapy in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and co-occurring psychological disorders. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) delivered in a 16-week group format. We examined treatment outcomes in male and female veterans ( n = 52) in an outpatient specialty PTSD clinic at a large Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center. We hypothesized significant decreases in emotion regulation difficulty (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale), PTSD symptom severity (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5), and depressive symptom severity (Patient Health Questionnaire–9). In addition, we hypothesized that reductions in emotion regulation difficulty across treatment would negatively predict PTSD and depressive symptoms at posttreatment. PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and emotion regulation difficulty all evidenced significant improvements at the end of treatment relative to baseline ( ps < .001). In addition, reductions in emotion regulation across treatment were associated with lower PTSD and depressive symptoms at posttreatment ( ps < .001). This pilot study provides preliminary evidence supporting use of UP among veterans with PTSD and co-occurring disorders. Well-designed clinical trials evaluating efficacy of UP among veterans are needed.

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A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of deliberate emotion regulation in resilience and posttraumatic stress disorder

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e717692011-018 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

A. S. New ◽

J. Fan ◽

J. W. Murrough ◽

X. Liu ◽

R. E. Liebman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽

Emotion Regulation ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Posttraumatic Stress ◽

Stress Disorder ◽

Imaging Study ◽

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Resonance Imaging

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Attention bias variability and posttraumatic stress symptoms: the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties

Cognition & Emotion ◽

10.1080/02699931.2020.1743235 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 34 (6) ◽

pp. 1300-1307 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alicia K. Klanecky Earl ◽

Alyssa M. Robinson ◽

Mackenzie S. Mills ◽

Maya M. Khanna ◽

Yair Bar-Haim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Posttraumatic Stress ◽

Attention Bias ◽

Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Stress Symptoms ◽

Attention Bias Variability

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Emotion Dysregulation and Childhood Trauma

The Oxford Handbook of Emotion Dysregulation ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190689285.013.19 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 263-282

Author(s):

Patricia K. Kerig

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Posttraumatic Stress ◽

Empirical Research ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Emotion Dysregulation ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Traumatic Experiences ◽

Future Directions ◽

Developmental Mechanism

This chapter describes theoretical models and empirical research devoted to understanding the aftermath of childhood trauma exposure and discusses the value of considering posttraumatic stress from an emotion dysregulation perspective. After describing definitional controversies in the field related to both trauma and posttraumatic stress, this chapter summarizes research on the effects of chronic, prolonged, and repeated traumatic experiences in childhood, such as maltreatment, with particular attention to its potential to compromise development of adaptive emotion regulation capacities. The role of emotion dysregulation in leading theoretical models of posttraumatic stress is presented, as well as empirical research testing the hypothesis that emotion dysregulation represents an underlying developmental mechanism through which childhood trauma affects functioning over the lifespan. Future directions include a need for clarification in conceptualization and measurement, further developmental processes to be considered, and opportunities for translational work to inform intervention efforts.

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