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Are Peritraumatic Perceptions of Fear/Life Threat and Posttraumatic Negative Self-Conscious Appraisals/Emotions Differentially Associated with PTSD Symptoms?

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Abstract

In light of revisions to the diagnostic classification and criteria of PTSD in the DSM-5 that underscore a range of negative self-related appraisals and emotions beyond fear/anxiety, the current study examined the relative associations of peritraumatic perceptions of fear/life threat and posttraumatic negative self-conscious appraisals and emotions (shame, guilt, negative beliefs about the self, self-blame) with specific PTSD symptom clusters: re-experiencing, avoidance, numbing, and hyperarousal. The sample included 257 female survivors of intimate partner violence. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that peritraumatic perceptions of fear/life threat and posttraumatic negative self-conscious appraisals/emotions significantly correlated with each of the PTSD symptom clusters. Findings support the conceptualization of PTSD as involving concurrent fear- and self-related cognitive/emotional factors.

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Acknowledgements

This study was completed in partial fulfillment of requirements for the M.S. degree for the first author. The first author thanks the committee members for their assistance: Katherine Iverson, Ph.D., Meghan McDevitt-Murphy, Ph.D., and Philip Pavlik, Ph.D.

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This work was supported by the Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence position, held by the second author.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, 400 Innovation Drive, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA

    Han N. Tran & J. Gayle Beck

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Correspondence to Han N. Tran.

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Tran, H.N., Beck, J.G. Are Peritraumatic Perceptions of Fear/Life Threat and Posttraumatic Negative Self-Conscious Appraisals/Emotions Differentially Associated with PTSD Symptoms?. Cogn Ther Res 43, 272–283 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-018-9903-z

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