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The Role of Trauma-Specific Irrational Beliefs and Sociodemographic Risk Factors in Posttraumatic Stress Responses

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Abstract

Posttraumatic stress responses have been linked to a range of social-cognitive and sociodemographic factors. Rational emotive behaviour therapy suggests that responding to a traumatic life event with a set of irrational beliefs should play a crucial role in predicting the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD: Ellis in Overcoming destructive beliefs, feelings, and behaviours: new directions for rational emotive behaviour therapy, Prometheus Books, Amherst, 2001). The current study assessed the role of trauma-specific irrational beliefs in the prediction of clinically relevant posttraumatic stress responses, while controlling for a range of important sociodemographic factors. A sample of 313 trauma-exposed military and law enforcement personnel took part in the current study and were divided into two groups according to the intensity of reported PTSD symptomology. Results of the binary logistic regression indicated that trauma-specific Catastrophizing, Low Frustration Tolerance, and Depreciation beliefs, respectively, significantly predicted belonging to the group reporting strong symptoms of PTSD compared to those reporting mild symptoms of PTSD. These results provide important evidence of the role of irrational beliefs in posttraumatic stress responses and highlight the importance of considering context-specific variants of each irrational belief process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Ulster, Magee Campus, Northland Road, Londonderry, BT48 7JL, Northern Ireland, UK

    Philip Hyland, Mark Shevlin & Gary Adamson

  2. Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    Daniel Boduszek

Authors
  1. Philip Hyland
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  2. Mark Shevlin
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  3. Gary Adamson
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  4. Daniel Boduszek
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip Hyland.

Appendix: The Trauma Related Irrational Belief Scale

Appendix: The Trauma Related Irrational Belief Scale

As you answer the following questions please think about the traumatic event you described in the previous section of this questionnaire.

For each statement below please indicate whether you Strongly Disagree (A), Somewhat Disagree (B), are Neutral (C), Somewhat Agree (D), or Strongly Agree (E).

1.

I absolutely should have acted differently during the traumatic event that I experienced

A

B

C

D

E

2.

The traumatic event that I experienced absolutely should not have happened

A

B

C

D

E

3.

The traumatic event that I experienced was completely awful and catastrophic; the worst thing that could have happened

A

B

C

D

E

4.

The traumatic event that I experience was extremely bad and unpleasant but it wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened

A

B

C

D

E

5.

I can’t stand the fact that I had to experience this traumatic event and I find it hard to experience any kind of happiness as a result

A

B

C

D

E

6.

Although I don’t like the fact that I experienced this traumatic event, I can stand the fact that it happened, and I find that I can experience happiness despite it

A

B

C

D

E

7.

I think that I am less worthwhile as a person because of what happened during the traumatic event

A

B

C

D

E

8.

I think that life is less worthwhile because of what happened during the traumatic event

A

B

C

D

E

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Hyland, P., Shevlin, M., Adamson, G. et al. The Role of Trauma-Specific Irrational Beliefs and Sociodemographic Risk Factors in Posttraumatic Stress Responses. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther 31, 152–166 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-013-0167-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-013-0167-y

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