M4. Lesson 4.5: Post Traumatic Stress Disorders Flashcards
What do trauma and stressor-related disorders occur in response to?
Trauma- and stressor-related disorders occur in response to exposure to a traumatic or very stressful negative event, like sexual abuse, a natural disaster, a car accident, or violent assault.
What is our response to trauma?
How we respond to trauma is variable, with some reactions and disorders clearly being based on anxiety and fear, but with other reactions being marked by anhedonia and dysphoria
What does the trauma and stressor-related disorder section include?
The DSM-5 trauma- and stressor-related disorders section includes:
- two childhood disorders (Reactive Attachment Disorder and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder),
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),
- and Acute Stress Disorder.
What is the criteria to receive a diagnosis of PTSD?
According to the DSM-5, for a person to receive a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), they must meet the following 8 criteria (APA, 2013).
- First, as mentioned, the person must have been exposed to a traumatic or stressful event such as actual or threatened death, serious bodily harm, or sexual violence. The person may have experienced the event themselves, witnessed to happening to somebody else, or learned that a close family member or friend was exposed to a trauma (APA, 2013).
- Second, the person has intrusive symptoms such that they re-experience the trauma, for example through unwanted memories, nightmares, or flashbacks that are related to the traumatic event. These symptoms are not within the person’s control, which can be particularly distressing for those with PTSD.
- Third, the person avoids trauma-related stimuli (e.g., thoughts, emotions, reminders) (e.g., people, places, objects). They do so in order to avoid the overwhelming fear response that arises when they are around trauma-related stimuli. For some people with PTSD exposure to trauma-related stimuli can lead to an increase in intrusive thoughts, nightmares, or flashbacks. Some examples of things that people might avoid include certain locations, people, conversations or memories, rooms in their homes, etc.
- Fourth, the person experiences negative changes in mood or cognition related to the traumatic event (e.g., inability to remember important parts of the event, exaggerated negative beliefs, negative emotions and the inability to experience positive emotions).
- Fifth, the person experiences significant changes in arousal and behaviour (e.g., irritability, hypervigilance, sleep disturbance) (APA, 2013). For example, it is not uncommon for individuals with PTSD to experience insomnia or to be hypervigilant to concerns about safety. This overarousal sometimes results in feeling tense, “keyed up” or on edge. It is also common for individuals with PTSD to have exaggerated startle responses, compared to people without PTSD.
- Sixth, the disturbances in mood, cognition, and behaviour must occur for at least 1 month.
- Seventh, and they must cause clinically significant distress or impairment in important areas of functioning (e.g., social, occupational).
- Eighth, the disturbances should not be better explained by the effects of a substance or another medical condition. In addition to making a diagnosis of PTSD, a psychologist can specify if the person also has symptoms of dissociation and/or if they have delayed expression of symptoms (i.e., full diagnostic criteria are not met until at least 6 months after the traumatic event) (APA, 2013).
What is the separate diagnostic criteria for trauma and stressor-related disorders for children 6 years and younger?
The DSM-5 has separate diagnostic criteria for children 6 years and younger. Some important differences are that in young children, intrusive memories may not look the same as they do in adults. In children, intrusive memories can be expressed through repetitive play. Children can also experience less interest in play, an exaggerated startle response, and they may have extreme temper tantrums (APA, 2013).
Why do some individuals, when exposed to trauma, develop PTSD but others do not?
The discrepancy between the rate of trauma exposure and the rate of PTSD has led researchers to try to identify factors that increase the likelihood of developing PTSD after exposure to a trauma. One such identified factor is event centrality (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006), or how central we come to see that event to our lives, memories, and identity.
What are the two versions of the CES?
The CES has a full 20-item version and a short-form 7-item version. Both have high reliability and validity
What are the 3 factors of the CES?
The CES has three factors. It measures the extent to which the individual’s traumatic memory:
1) becomes a reference point for everyday inferences;
2) represents a turning point in the individual’s life story; and
3) becomes a reference point for their personal identity. Each of these factors are positively related to PTSD (Robinaugh & McNally, 2011).
Why does each factor of the CES contribute to symptoms of PTSD?
Berntsen and Robin (2006) proposed that the availability heuristic (Tversky & Kahnman, 1973) helps to explain the relationship between the first factor and PTSD. For example, if the trauma memories are highly accessible, then the individual will overestimate the frequency of such events in everyday life, leading to unnecessary worries, precautions, and other traumatization symptoms (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006).
The second factor was developed from research on how trauma can profoundly change a person’s outlook (Janoff-Bulman, 1989). Berntsen and Rubin (2006) proposed that symptoms of PTSD may be exacerbated when the individual focuses on aspects of their life that can be explained by referencing this turning point in the life story, while discounting aspects that defy these references (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006).
Lastly, the third factor was developed from research that suggests that an individual may perceive a trauma as causally related to a stable characteristic of the self (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978; Berntsen & Rubin, 2006). Therefore, this factor is proposed to be related to PTSD when individuals attribute the trauma to stable negative identity characteristics
What is the overall impact of the CES on PTSD?
Overall, research on event centrality supports the autobiographical memory model of PTSD, which purposes that PTSD symptoms result from the over integration of the trauma into one’s memory, identity, and understanding of the world (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006; Rubin, Berntsen, & Bohni, 2008; Rubin, Boals, & Berntsen, 2008).
Since the construction of CES, what has research demonstrated?
Since the construction of the centrality of events scale (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006) research has demonstrated a robust positive relationship between event centrality and PTSD for a range of trauma types and participant populations.
For example, the positive relationship between event centrality and PTSD has been found for individuals exposed to child sexual abuse (Robinaugh & McNally, 2011), military combat (Brown, Antonius, Kramer, Root, & Hirst, 2010), terrorist attacks/bombings (Blix, Solberg, & Heir, 2014), physical injury or assault/abuse, illness, exposure to death, sexual assault/abuse, accidents, and natural disasters (Teale Sapach et al., 2019; Barton, Boals, & Knowles, 2013). The positive relationship between event centrality and PTSD has also been found for a range of participant samples, including community members (Rubin, Dennis, & Beckham, 2011; Ogle et al., 2014), undergraduate students (Barton et al., 2013; Berntsen & Rubin, 2006; Broadbridge, 2018; Fitzgerald, Berntsen, & Broadbridge, 2016), treatment-seeking individuals (Boals & Murrel, 2016; Silva et al., 2016), and military veterans (Brown et al., 2010). This relationship between event centrality and PTSD is also evident for adults ranging from 18 to 93 (Barton et al., 2013; Berntsen, Rubin, & Siegler, 2011; Wamser-Nanney, 2019; Ogle et al., 2013; Boals, Hayslip, Knowles, & Banks, 2012).
What are the nuances in the relationship between centrality and PTSD?
However, there are nuances in the relationship between event centrality and PTSD for certain participant characteristics. For instance, younger adults (Boals et al., 2012) and women (Boals, 2010) are more likely to centralize a traumatic event and develop PTSD compared to older adults and men, respectively. Therefore, the difference in event centrality may help to explain the higher prevalence of PTSD in these populations (i.e., young adults and women; Van Ameringen et al., 2008).
Are there certain types of trauma?
Yes. There are certain types of trauma that have a greater impact on the development and maintenance of PTSD.
What are interpersonal traumatic events?
Interpersonal traumatic events that are purposefully caused by other people contribute the most to PTSD risk and symptom severity.
What is the type of trauma that has less impact on PTSD?
Events that occur by accident or by natural disaster have a far less impact on the risk for PTSD compared to interpersonal traumas
Why are interpersonal traumas stronger?
There are several reasons explaining why interpersonal traumas are so powerful in increasing a person’s risk and severity of PTSD. In interpersonal traumas, the appraisal of threat tends to be higher, and people tend to experience a higher level of distress and decreased sense of safety in the world. In addition, interpersonal traumas can affect people’s ability to effectively interact with others (Charuvastra & Cloitre, 2008).
