Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Campus A1 3, Saarland University, D-66123, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Campus A1 3, Saarland University, D-66123, Saarbrücken, Germany.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2021 Mar;70:101611. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2020.101611. Epub 2020 Aug 23.
Field research indicates that lower intelligence may predispose trauma-exposed individuals towards the development of re-experiencing symptoms. However, this assumption requires further testing in controlled prospective studies. In the current analog study, we tested whether lower fluid intelligence and lower working memory capacity (WMC) independently contribute to intrusion development. Moreover, we investigated potential mediating effects of trauma memory characteristics and trait rumination.
118 healthy participants completed tests measuring fluid intelligence and WMC. Two days later, they were exposed to a film clip depicting traumatic events (i.e., so-called trauma film). After exposure to the film, intrusions were assessed using a diary and an intrusion triggering task.
Our analyses revealed a negative correlation between fluid intelligence and intrusions during the intrusion triggering task. WMC did not correlate with any intrusion measure. Moreover, planned analyses did not yield any mediation effects.
We used the trauma film paradigm to examine analog posttraumatic stress symptoms. This approach limits the generalizability of our findings with regard to symptom development following real-life traumatic events.
Our results show for the first time that higher fluid intelligence is associated with fewer intrusions of a trauma film. This association was evident for laboratory but not for ambulatory intrusions. By demonstrating this association using a prospective experimental design, our study importantly corroborates previous field research.
现场研究表明，较低的智力可能使创伤暴露个体更容易出现再体验症状。然而，这一假设需要在对照前瞻性研究中进一步验证。在目前的模拟研究中，我们测试了较低的流体智力和较低的工作记忆容量（WMC）是否独立促进侵入的发展。此外，我们还研究了创伤记忆特征和特质反刍的潜在中介作用。
118 名健康参与者完成了测量流体智力和 WMC 的测试。两天后，他们观看了一段描述创伤事件的电影片段（即所谓的创伤电影）。观看电影后，使用日记和侵入触发任务评估侵入。
我们的分析显示，流体智力与侵入触发任务中的侵入之间存在负相关。WMC 与任何侵入测量值均不相关。此外，计划分析未产生任何中介效应。
我们使用创伤电影范式来检查模拟创伤后应激症状。这种方法限制了我们的研究结果对于现实生活中创伤后症状发展的普遍性。
我们的研究结果首次表明，较高的流体智力与创伤电影的侵入次数较少有关。这种关联在实验室侵入中明显，但在动态侵入中不明显。通过使用前瞻性实验设计证明这种关联，我们的研究重要地证实了先前的现场研究。
