Department of Psychology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA.
J Anxiety Disord. 2021 Dec;84:102475. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102475. Epub 2021 Sep 7.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are prevalent and deleterious among individuals who have experienced a sexual assault. Although an emerging field of research has established a link between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms, there is a limited understanding of mechanisms underlying this relation. Individuals who have experienced a sexual assault may begin to fear any arousal-related sensations via stimulus generalization, including that associated with positive emotions, which, in turn, may amplify PTSD symptoms. Thus, the current study examined the role of anxiety sensitivity in the association between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms.
A sample of 500 community members reporting a history of sexual assault (M=34.54, 54.4% male, 79.0% white) completed measures of positive emotion dysregulation, anxiety sensitivity, and PTSD symptoms.
Findings detected a significant indirect effect of anxiety sensitivity in the relation between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms (β = 0.28, SE=0.03, 95% CI [0.22, 0.34]). Supplementary analyses revealed that effects held for subscales of anxiety sensitivity (i.e., cognitive, physical, social concerns) and PTSD symptom clusters (i.e., intrusions, avoidance, negative alternations in cognitions and mood, alternations in arousal and reactivity).
This study offers preliminary empirical support for the assertion that fear of arousal-related sensations associated with positive emotions may partially explain the link between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms among those who have experienced a sexual assault. Information from this study could advance future research and treatment.
创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状在经历过性侵犯的个体中普遍存在且具有危害性。虽然有一个新兴的研究领域已经确定了积极情绪失调与 PTSD 症状之间的联系，但对于这种关系的潜在机制仍知之甚少。经历过性侵犯的个体可能会通过刺激泛化开始对任何与唤起相关的感觉产生恐惧，包括与积极情绪相关的感觉，这反过来又可能放大 PTSD 症状。因此，本研究考察了焦虑敏感性在积极情绪失调与 PTSD 症状之间的关系中的作用。
一个由 500 名报告有性侵犯史的社区成员组成的样本（M=34.54，54.4%为男性，79.0%为白人）完成了积极情绪失调、焦虑敏感性和 PTSD 症状的测量。
研究结果发现，焦虑敏感性在积极情绪失调与 PTSD 症状之间的关系中存在显著的间接效应（β=0.28，SE=0.03，95%CI[0.22，0.34]）。补充分析表明，这种效应在焦虑敏感性的子量表（即认知、身体、社会关注）和 PTSD 症状群（即闯入、回避、认知和情绪的负面改变、唤起和反应性的改变）中均成立。
本研究初步为这样一种观点提供了实证支持，即对与积极情绪相关的唤起相关感觉的恐惧可能部分解释了经历过性侵犯的个体中积极情绪失调与 PTSD 症状之间的联系。这项研究的信息可以推进未来的研究和治疗。
