The invisible scars of emotional abuse: a common and highly harmful form of childhood maltreatment

Abstract Background Childhood maltreatment (CM) is unfortunately widespread globally and has been linked with an increased risk of a variety of psychiatric disorders in adults, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These associations are well established in the literature for some maltreatment forms, such as sexual and physical abuse. However, the effects of emotional maltreatment are much less explored, even though this type figures among the most common forms of childhood maltreatment. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the impact of each type of childhood maltreatment, both individually and conjointly, on revictimization and PTSD symptom severity using a nonclinical college student sample. Methods Five hundred and two graduate and undergraduate students participated in the study by completing questionnaires assessing lifetime traumatic experiences in general, maltreatment during childhood and PTSD symptoms. Bivariate and multivariate negative binomial regressions were applied to examine the associations among childhood maltreatment, revictimization, and PTSD symptom severity. Results Our results showed that using bivariate models, all types of CM were significantly associated with revictimization and PTSD symptom severity. Multivariate models showed that emotional abuse was the type of maltreatment associated with the highest incidence rates of revictimization and PTSD symptom severity. Conclusions These data provide additional evidence of the harmful effects of childhood maltreatment and its long-term consequences for individuals’ mental health. Notably, the findings highlight the importance of studying the impacts of emotional abuse, which seems to be a highly prevalent, understudied, and chronic form of maltreatment that is as toxic as other maltreatment forms.

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Dispositional optimism mediates relations between childhood maltreatment and PTSD symptom severity among trauma-exposed adults

Child Abuse & Neglect ◽

10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105023 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 115 ◽

pp. 105023

Author(s):

Jenny Chen ◽

Nicole M. Christ ◽

Chia-Hao Shih ◽

Hong Xie ◽

Stephen R. Grider ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Childhood Maltreatment ◽

Symptom Severity ◽

Ptsd Symptom ◽

Dispositional Optimism ◽

Ptsd Symptom Severity

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The impact of changes in distress tolerance on PTSD symptom severity post-treatment among veterans in residential trauma treatment

Journal of Anxiety Disorders ◽

10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.01.004 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. 99-105 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Anne N. Banducci ◽

Kevin M. Connolly ◽

Anka A. Vujanovic ◽

Jennifer Alvarez ◽

Marcel O. Bonn-Miller

Keyword(s):

Symptom Severity ◽

Distress Tolerance ◽

Ptsd Symptom ◽

Post Treatment ◽

Trauma Treatment ◽

Ptsd Symptom Severity ◽

The Impact

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Stress and Coping of Critical Care Nurses After Unsuccessful Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

American Journal of Critical Care ◽

10.4037/ajcc2017916 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 128-135 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Dawn E. McMeekin ◽

Ronald L. Hickman ◽

Sara L. Douglas ◽

Carol G. Kelley

Keyword(s):

Critical Care ◽

Symptom Severity ◽

Ptsd Symptom ◽

Institutional Support ◽

Critical Care Nurses ◽

Ptsd Symptoms ◽

Coping Behaviors ◽

Event Scale ◽

Ptsd Symptom Severity ◽

The Impact

Background Participation by a critical care nurse in an unsuccessful resuscitation can create a unique heightened level of psychological stress referred to as postcode stress, activation of coping behaviors, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Objectives To explore the relationships among postcode stress, coping behaviors, and PTSD symptom severity in critical care nurses after experiencing unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitations and to see whether institutional support attenuates these repeated psychological traumas. Methods A national sample of 490 critical care nurses was recruited from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ eNewsline and social media. Participants completed the Post-Code Stress Scale, the Brief COPE (abbreviated), and the Impact of Event Scale–Revised, which were administered through an online survey. Results Postcode stress and PTSD symptom severity were weakly associated (r = 0.20, P = .01). No significant associations between coping behaviors and postcode stress were found. Four coping behaviors (denial, self-distraction, self-blame, and behavioral disengagement) were significant predictors of PTSD symptom severity. Severity of postcode stress and PTSD symptoms varied with the availability of institutional support. Conclusions Critical care nurses show moderate levels of postcode stress and PTSD symptoms when asked to recall an unsuccessful resuscitation and the coping behaviors used. Identifying the critical care nurses most at risk for PTSD will inform the development of interventional research to promote critical care nurses’ psychological well-being and reduce their attrition from the profession.

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Psychiatric morbidity and protracted symptoms in recovered COVID-19 patients

10.1101/2020.10.07.20208249 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Burç Çağrı Poyraz ◽

Cana Aksoy Poyraz ◽

Yeşim Olğun ◽

Özge Gürel ◽

Sena Alkan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Symptom Severity ◽

Ptsd Symptom ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Acute Infection ◽

Psychiatric Morbidity ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Binary Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Ptsd Symptom Severity ◽

The Impact

AbstractWe investigated the psychiatric symptomatology and the protracted symptoms in recently recovered COVID-19 patients. This cross-sectional study assessed 284 patients recruited from a tertiary hospital. Patients completed a web-based survey on socio-demographic data, past medical/psychiatric history, and additional information relevant to the outbreak conditions. The psychiatric status was assessed using the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and MINI suicidality scale. Patients completed a checklist for the acute symptom burden and protracted symptoms that were experienced after the acute infection. After a mean of 50 days following the diagnosis of COVID-19, 98 patients (34.5%) reported clinically significant PTSD, anxiety, and/or depression, with PTSD being the most common condition reported (25.4%). One hundred and eighteen patients (44.3%) reported one or more protracted symptom(s), with fatigue, muscle aches, alteration of smell/taste, headache and difficulty in concentration, being the most common symptoms reported. Predictors of PTSD symptom severity were the female gender, past traumatic events, protracted symptoms, perceived stigmatization, and a negative view on the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that PTSD symptom severity was the sole independent predictor of the presence of protracted symptoms. Our results suggest that COVID-19 patients may be prone to substantial psychological distress in the first months after the infection. The protracted symptoms were also frequent in this period, and these were related to the posttraumatic psychiatric morbidity. Both the psychiatric morbidity and the protracted symptoms were independent of the initial infection severity. Further research on the neurobiological commonalities between the protracted symptoms and PTSD in COVID-19 patients is warranted.

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Self-Compassion and Responses to Trauma: The Role of Emotion Regulation

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260515622296 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 33 (13) ◽

pp. 2016-2036 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Arielle A. J. Scoglio ◽

Deirdre A. Rudat ◽

Donn Garvert ◽

Maggie Jarmolowski ◽

Christie Jackson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Symptom Severity ◽

Emotion Dysregulation ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Ptsd Symptom ◽

Clinical Population ◽

Self Compassion ◽

Ptsd Symptom Severity ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

Emerging literature suggests that self-compassion may be an important concept for understanding recovery from the impact of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study explored the interconnection among self-compassion, resilience, emotion dysregulation, and PTSD symptom severity in a sample of treatment-seeking women with PTSD. We predicted that self-compassion would be negatively related to PTSD symptom severity and to emotion dysregulation, and positively related to resilience. The results supported our main hypotheses. In addition, emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between PTSD symptom severity and self-compassion and affected the relationship between self-compassion and resilience. These findings corroborate previous research that points to the important role of self-compassion in mental health and in the aftermath of stressful life events. The present study expands this research by demonstrating that PTSD symptom severity is negatively related to self-compassion in a clinical population of women with experiences of severe and repeated interpersonal trauma.

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The impact of depression and PTSD symptom severity on trauma memory

Memory ◽

10.1080/09658211.2017.1334801 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 106-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Andrea R. Ashbaugh ◽

Julia Marinos ◽

Brad Bujaki

Keyword(s):

Symptom Severity ◽

Ptsd Symptom ◽

Trauma Memory ◽

Ptsd Symptom Severity ◽

The Impact

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The Indirect Effect of Coping Self-Efficacy on the Relation Between Sexual Violence and PTSD Symptoms

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260519881525 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 088626051988152

Author(s):

Colin T. Mahoney ◽

Shannon M. Lynch ◽

Charles C. Benight

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Indirect Effect ◽

Symptom Severity ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Ptsd Symptom ◽

Self Report ◽

Ptsd Symptoms ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Ptsd Symptom Severity

One in five women experience rape and one in four experience unwanted sexual contact, incurring significant risk of negative psychological outcomes such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Given this heightened risk, it is imperative to examine factors that can inhibit the development of PTSD symptoms in response to sexual violence in women. Perceived coping self-efficacy (CSE) is a cognitive appraisal ability utilized to regulate internal and external stressors that arise from traumatic events and is crucial for effective adaptation after traumas such as sexual violence. This study investigated CSE as a potential protective factor against trauma-related psychopathology in female rape survivors. In this study, 518 female undergraduate students ( M age = 22.71 years, SD = 8.33 years; 82.4% Caucasian) completed self-report measures of nonconsensual sexual experiences, CSE, and PTSD symptom severity. Of those, 375 women ( M age = 22.89 years, SD = 6.91 years; 83.7% Caucasian) reported at least one incident of a nonconsensual sexual experience. We hypothesized that CSE would indirectly affect the relationship between sexual violence and PTSD symptom severity, such that CSE would be protective against PTSD symptoms. In line with our hypothesis, there was evidence of a significant indirect effect, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [0.18, 0.44]. This evidence suggests that CSE may be an important protective factor given women’s increased risk of developing PTSD symptoms following sexual violence. Furthermore, this finding suggests that programs targeting the development of CSE may prevent or lessen risk of PTSD symptoms following sexual violence.

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