Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies Associated With the DSM‐5 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Criteria

Abstract

Maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies have been proposed to contribute to the maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prior work has focused on the relationship between these strategies and PTSD as a whole, rather than on how they are related to each PTSD symptom cluster. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether cognitive emotion regulation strategies are predictive of certain PTSD symptom clusters under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th ed. (DSM‐5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) criteria (intrusive thoughts, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions and mood, and hyperarousal). Participants included 365 treatment‐seeking, active‐duty military personnel with PTSD. The negative alterations in cognitions and mood cluster were associated with dysfunctional cognitions: greater negative cognitions about the self, negative cognitions about the world, and self‐blame, as well as catastrophizing ( = .519). The negative alterations in cognitions and mood cluster did not show a strong relationship with blaming others, possibly due to the complex nature of self‐ and other‐blame in this primarily deployment‐related PTSD sample. Finally, the intrusive thoughts cluster was associated with catastrophizing ( = .211), suggesting an association between frequent intrusive memories and excessively negative interpretation of those memories.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 30, 2017
Source ID
10.1002/jts.22202

Entities

People

  • Alan L. Peterson
  • Antonia N. Kaczkurkin
  • Brett T Litz
  • Edna B. Foa
  • Elisa V. Borah
  • Elizabeth A. Hembree
  • Jeffrey S. Yarvis
  • Jim Mintz
  • Katherine A Dondanville
  • Natalie G. Gay
  • Stacey Young‐mccaughan
  • The Strong Star Consortium
  • Yinyin Zang

Organizations

  • Boston University
  • United States Army Medical Research and Development Command
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • University of Texas at Austin
  • VA Boston Healthcare System

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Circadian Sleep-Wake Regulation and Chronobiology
  • Educational Psychology
  • Mental Health of Military Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Risk Factors, Prevalence, Symptoms, and Treatment.