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Event centrality and posttraumatic stress symptoms after traumatic injury: A longitudinal investigation. J Trauma Stress 2022 Dec;35(6):1734-1743

Date

09/16/2022

Pubmed ID

36104984

DOI

10.1002/jts.22877

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85137895442 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)

Abstract

The development of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) can occur following a traumatic injury, which may include an increase in negative cognitions. One cognitive construct shown to be associated with the development of PTSS is event centrality, or the degree to which an individual views a traumatic experience as central to their life story. Although cross-sectional work has demonstrated a robust connection between event centrality and PTSS, the directionality of this association remains unclear. Most previous work has investigated centrality as a predictor of PTSS, although one recent study suggests that PTSS may, in fact, predict event centrality. The current longitudinal study enrolled adult civilian participants (N = 191) from a Level 1 trauma center following a traumatic injury and assessed both event centrality and PTSS at three points posttrauma (3, 12, and 18 months). A time-constrained random intercept cross-lagged panel analysis showed that PTSS predicted event centrality over the 18-month follow-up period, B = 0.16, p = .021, but event centrality did not predict PTSS, B = -0.27, p = .340. These findings suggest that the development of PTSS following trauma exposure may lead to the perception of the traumatic event as central to an individual's story over time. Further longitudinal research is necessary to determine what variables may influence the connection between PTSS and event centrality.

Author List

Stevens SK, Timmer-Murillo SC, Tomas CW, Boals A, Larson CL, deRoon-Cassini T, Larsen SE

Authors

Sadie E. Larsen PhD Associate Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Sydney Timmer-Murillo PhD Assistant Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Carissa W. Tomas PhD Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Terri A. deRoon Cassini PhD Center Director, Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Cognition
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Problem Behavior
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic