Department of Psychology, Psychopathology and Clinical Intervention, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2011;2. doi: 10.3402/ejpt.v2i0.8749. Epub 2011 Dec 2.
CERTAIN MODES OF TRAUMA DISCLOSURE HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH MORE SEVERE SYMPTOMS OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS (PTS) IN DIFFERENT TRAUMA POPULATIONS: the reluctance to disclose trauma-related thoughts and feelings, a strong urge to talk about it, and physical as well as emotional reactions during disclosure. Although social-contextual influences gain more and more interest in trauma research, no study has yet investigated these "dysfunctional disclosure tendencies" and their association with PTS from an interpersonal perspective.
(1) To replicate previous findings on dysfunctional disclosure tendencies in patients with life-threatening injury and their significant others and (2) to study interpersonal associations between dysfunctional disclosure style and PTS at a dyadic level.
PTS symptom severity and self-reports on dysfunctional disclosure tendencies were assessed in N=70 dyads comprising one individual with severe traumatic brain injury and a significant other ("proxy") 3 months after injury.
Regression analyses predicting PTS symptom severity revealed dysfunctional disclosure tendencies to have incremental validity above and beyond sex, age, and trauma severity within the individual (both patient and proxy), with moderate effect sizes. The interaction between patient's and proxy's disclosure style explained additional portions of the variance in patients' PTS symptom severity.
Findings suggest that dysfunctional disclosure tendencies are related to poorer psychological adaptation to severe traumatic brain injury. This intrapersonal association may be exacerbated by dysfunctional disclosure tendencies on the part of a significant other. Although the results require replication in other trauma samples without brain injury to further generalize the findings beyond the observed population, the study contributes to the expanding literature on the crucial role of interpersonal relationships in trauma recovery.
某些创伤暴露模式与不同创伤人群中更严重的创伤后应激症状（PTS）有关：不愿透露与创伤相关的想法和感受、强烈的倾诉欲望，以及在披露过程中的身体和情绪反应。尽管社会背景因素在创伤研究中越来越受到关注，但迄今为止，还没有研究从人际角度调查这些“功能失调的披露倾向”及其与 PTS 的关系。
（1）复制先前关于危及生命的伤害患者及其重要他人的功能失调披露倾向的发现，（2）在双元水平上研究功能失调的披露风格与 PTS 之间的人际关联。
在创伤后 3 个月，对 N=70 对包括严重创伤性脑损伤患者和重要他人（“代理人”）的二元组进行 PTS 症状严重程度和功能失调披露倾向的自我报告评估。
预测 PTS 症状严重程度的回归分析表明，功能失调的披露倾向在个体（患者和代理人）内具有增量有效性，超过了性别、年龄和创伤严重程度，具有中等效应大小。患者和代理人披露风格之间的相互作用解释了患者 PTS 症状严重程度的额外变异部分。
研究结果表明，功能失调的披露倾向与严重创伤性脑损伤后的心理适应不良有关。这种内在关联可能因重要他人的功能失调披露倾向而加剧。尽管这些结果需要在没有脑损伤的其他创伤样本中进行复制，以将发现进一步推广到观察到的人群之外，但该研究为人际关系在创伤恢复中至关重要的作用的不断扩大的文献做出了贡献。
