The Association Between Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Anxiety Sensitivity in a College Sample

2020 ◽  
pp. 003329412094822
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Caulfield ◽  
Rachel L. Martin ◽  
Aaron M. Norr ◽  
Daniel W. Capron

Background/Objectives One-half of all U.S. adults will experience at least one traumatic event, and of those, approximately 11% develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Despite efficacious treatments for PTSD, one-third of people diagnosed still express symptoms after treatment.Thus, it is important to identify underlying factors that may be associated with PTSD symptom clusters to improve treatment efficacy. One potential factor is anxiety sensitivity (AS), or “the fear of fear,” and includes three different subfactors: physical, cognitive, and social concerns, yet few studies have examined this association using the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3. Method Participants included 65 undergraduate students from a Southeastern University who were elevated on anxiety sensitivity cognitive concerns and experienced at least one traumatic event. Participants completed measures of trauma exposure, anxiety sensitivity, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Results Results revealed that AS physical symptoms had the most robust association with potential PTSD symptoms and individual PTSD symptom clusters with the exception of the avoidance and numbing cluster Conclusions These findings may help clarify the nature of the relationship between PTSD symptoms and AS using the most updated measure of AS (ASI-3).

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 493-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Z. MacDonald ◽  
Marjorie Beeghly ◽  
Wanda Grant-Knight ◽  
Marilyn Augustyn ◽  
Ryan W. Woods ◽  
...  

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to evaluate whether children with a history of disorganized attachment in infancy were more likely than children without a history of disorganized attachment to exhibit symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at school age following trauma exposure. The sample consisted of 78 8.5-year-old children from a larger, ongoing prospective study evaluating the effects of intrauterine cocaine exposure (IUCE) on children's growth and development from birth to adolescence. At the 12-month visit, children's attachment status was scored from videotapes of infant–caregiver dyads in Ainsworth's strange situation. At the 8.5-year visit, children were administered the Violence Exposure Scale—Revised, a child-report trauma exposure inventory, and the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents by an experienced clinical psychologist masked to children's attachment status and IUCE status. Sixteen of the 78 children (21%) were classified as insecure–disorganized/insecure–other at 12 months. Poisson regressions covarying IUCE, gender, and continuity of maternal care indicated that disorganized attachment status at 12 months, compared with nondisorganized attachment status, significantly predicted both higher avoidance cluster PTSD symptoms and higher reexperiencing cluster PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest that the quality of early dyadic relationships may be linked to differences in children's later development of posttraumatic stress symptoms following a traumatic event.


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1351-1351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Z. Macdonald ◽  
Marjorie Beeghly ◽  
Wanda Grant-Knight ◽  
Marilyn Augustyn ◽  
Ryan W. Woods ◽  
...  

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to evaluate whether children with a history of disorganized attachment in infancy were more likely than children without a history of disorganized attachment to exhibit symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at school age following trauma exposure. The sample consisted of 78 8.5-year-old children from a larger, ongoing prospective study evaluating the effects of intrauterine cocaine exposure (IUCE) on children's growth and development from birth to adolescence. At the 12-month visit, children's attachment status was scored from videotapes of infant–caregiver dyads in Ainsworth's strange situation. At the 8.5-year visit, children were administered the Violence Exposure Scale—Revised, a child-report trauma exposure inventory, and the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents by an experienced clinical psychologist masked to children's attachment status and IUCE status. Sixteen of the 78 children (21%) were classified as insecure–disorganized/insecure–other at 12 months. Poisson regressions covarying IUCE, gender, and continuity of maternal care indicated that disorganized attachment status at 12 months, compared with nondisorganized attachment status, significantly predicted both higher avoidance cluster PTSD symptoms and higher reexperiencing cluster PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest that the quality of early dyadic relationships may be linked to differences in children's later development of posttraumatic stress symptoms following a traumatic event.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
pp. 794-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shin Nakamine ◽  
Maiko Kobayashi ◽  
Hiroyuki Fujita ◽  
Sachiko Takahashi ◽  
Yutaka Matsui

Introduction: Previous studies found that about 10–30% of terrorist attack survivors suffer mental disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which persist up to 10 years. However, little is known about whether the effects of terrorism on mental health could last for a longer period or whether physical symptoms and secondary victimization are associated with the persistence of mental disorders. Method: A questionnaire survey was conducted with the victims of the Tokyo subway sarin attack in March 1995 (N = 299). Victims’ physical and ophthalmic symptoms, secondary victimization, and posttraumatic stress symptoms were surveyed. For comparison, those who have experienced a stressful event were surveyed with the same instruments as of victims’ survey except secondary victimization. Results: Results indicated that 21.3% of the male and 36.1% of the female victims were in the high-risk group for posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), which did not differ from those of the comparison group. However, victims had physical and ophthalmic symptoms of greater severity than the comparison group. Moreover, we found that PTSS was strongly associated with physical symptoms and secondary victimization. Discussion: There is a need to develop a support system that would be helpful in reducing mental health suffering of terrorist victims. Providing regular physical checkups and building support for those who experience life changes caused by victimization are suggested.


2013 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Saccinto ◽  
Lola Vallès ◽  
Ed Hilterman ◽  
Malin Roiha ◽  
Luca Pietrantoni ◽  
...  

AbstractThis study investigates if perceived self-efficacy during an emergency situation has a protective role in the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms among Italian and Spanish survivors of several emergency situations. We explored the impact of self-efficacy in a multiple regression model including other predictors of posttraumatic stress symptoms, such as emergency prevention knowledge; trust in emergency services; risk perception of becoming a victim of an emergency situation; and conscious and active behaviors in comparison with no conscious and no active behavior during the emergency. We carried out a retrospective study recruiting 214 participants who reported their experience as victims of one specific emergency event. Results showed that survivors who perceived themselves as more self-efficacious during the traumatic event had less posttraumatic stress symptoms. In contrast, female gender, more self-threat perception and higher trauma severity were associated with more symptoms. Findings contribute to better understand human behavior in emergency situations and evidence the protective role of perceived self-efficacy beliefs among survivors of emergency situations.


1999 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 646-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Peltzer

The purpose of the study was to identify exposure to experiences such as violence and the consequences for health in children in a rural South African community. The stratified random sample included 148 children below 17 yr., which comprised 68 (46%) boys and 80 (54%) girls in the age range of 6 to 16 years ( M = 12.1 yr., SD = 3.1). Their ethnicity was Northern Sotho. The interviews included the Children's Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Inventory and the Reporting Questionnaire for Children. The experiences could be grouped into either traumatic or other events. 99 (67%) had directly or vicariously experienced a traumatic event which included witnessing someone killed or seriously injured, serious accident, violent or very unexpected death or suicide of loved one, sexual abuse or rape of relative or friend, violent crime, child abuse, and other life-threatening situations. Scores on the Children's Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Inventory of 17 (8.4%) fulfilled the criterion for posttraumatic stress disorder. 71% had more than one score and 53% had more than four scores on the Reporting Questionnaire for Children. Posttraumatic stress symptoms were significantly related to age and experiences such as those mentioned above.


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