Objective: Shootings in academic settings are associated with the development of both posttraumatic growth (PTG) and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms (Bardeen, Kumpula, & Orcutt, 2013). Traumatic events can challenge an individual's cognitive framework and contribute to the development of PTS and PTG. Intrusive rumination is thought to increase vulnerability to PTS symptoms, whereas deliberate rumination is likely to be associated with PTG. Literature that serves to distinguish the contextual and intraindividual predictors differentially leading to the development of PTS and PTG symptoms is limited. This cross-sectional study examined the relations between trauma proximity and posttraumatic outcomes as mediated by deliberate and intrusive ruminative responses to a university shooting. We hypothesize that (a) physical and emotional proximity would exert distinct effects on posttraumatic outcomes, (b) the effects of proximity on PTS would be mediated by intrusive rumination, and (c) the effects of proximity on PTG would be mediated by deliberate rumination. Method: Three hundred and eighty-five students, faculty, and staff who were exposed to a university campus shooting completed a series of questionnaires 4 months after the event. Results: Emotional proximity was associated with PTS and PTG, whereas physical proximity was only associated with PTS. Of our four hypothesized mediation relationships, intrusive rumination mediated the relationship between physical proximity and PTS, and deliberate rumination mediated the relationship between emotional proximity and PTG. Conclusions: These results suggest that physical and emotional proximity to a traumatic event uniquely contribute to the development of posttraumatic outcomes and that intrusive rumination promotes maladaptive outcomes, whereas deliberate rumination may promote adaptive outcomes. Clinical Impact StatementThe present study suggests that those who are physically close to a trauma event may experience more unwanted thoughts about the event, predicting more posttraumatic stress symptoms. Although those who are emotionally close to a traumatic event are predicted to also develop more posttraumatic stress symptoms, using intentional reflection on the event can lead to posttraumatic growth, a sense of deeper meaning or realignment with values. These results suggest that physical and emotional proximity to a traumatic event exert unique influences on posttraumatic outcomes and that interventions targeting ruminative styles may be useful in promoting greater mental health.
Recent theory and evidence support an integrated affective-cognitive model of adolescent depressive symptoms in which temperament predicts the use of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation (ER) strategies which, in turn, predict depressive symptoms. We concurrently and prospectively investigated whether two cognitive ER strategies (dampening and brooding) mediated the effect of trait positive and negative affect on adolescent depressive symptoms. Young adolescents (11-14 years old) completed questionnaires at baseline ( N = 150) and at a 4-month follow-up ( N = 126). Findings indicate brooding mediated the relationship between both positive and negative affect and depressive symptoms, both cross-sectionally and prospectively. Dampening yielded inconsistent results. This suggests brooding may be a unique mechanism from trait affect to depressive symptoms in late childhood to early adolescence.
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