Alterations in empathic responding among women with posttraumatic stress disorder associated with childhood trauma

Parlar, Melissa; Frewen, Paul A.; Nazarov, Anthony; Oremus, Carolina; MacQueen, Glenda; Lanius, Ruth A.; McKinnon, Margaret C.

doi:10.1002/brb3.215

Cited by 57 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 53 publications

(105 reference statements)

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“…Previous studies, including work conducted by our laboratory, have shown alterations in empathic responding (Nietlisbach, Maercker, Rössler, & Haker, 2010; Parlar et al, 2014), recognition of speech prosody (Nazarov, Frewen, et al, 2015), theory of mind (Mazza et al, 2012; Nazarov et al, 2014), and direct gaze processing (Steuwe et al, 2015) in this population. A reoccurring theme surrounding alterations in social cognition among individuals with PTSD is alterations in its performance in emotionally salient social contexts.…”

mentioning

confidence: 56%

Moral reasoning in women with posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse

Nazarov

Walaszczyk

Frewen

et al. 2016

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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BackgroundPreliminary evidence suggests that relative to healthy controls, patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show deficits on several inter-related social cognitive tasks, including theory of mind, and emotion comprehension. Systematic investigations examining other aspects of social cognition, including moral reasoning, have not been conducted in PTSD stemming from childhood trauma.ObjectiveTo conduct a comprehensive assessment of moral reasoning performance in individuals with PTSD stemming from childhood abuse.MethodMoral reasoning performance was assessed in 28 women with PTSD related to prolonged childhood trauma and 19 matched healthy controls. Performance was assessed using 12 modified moral dilemmas and was queried in three domains: utilitarian/deontological sacrificial dilemmas (personal and impersonal), social order vs. compassion, and altruism vs. self-interest. Participants were asked whether a proposed action was morally acceptable or unacceptable and whether or not they would perform this action under the circumstances described.ResultsWomen with PTSD were less likely to carry out utilitarian actions in personal, sacrificial moral dilemmas, a choice driven primarily by consequential intrapersonal disapproval. Increased concern regarding intrapersonal disapproval was related to higher symptoms of guilt in the PTSD group. Patients with PTSD demonstrated less altruistic moral reasoning, primarily associated with decreased empathic role-taking for beneficiaries.ConclusionsWomen with PTSD due to childhood trauma show alterations in moral reasoning marked by decreased utilitarian judgment and decreased altruism. Childhood trauma may continue to impact moral choices made into adulthood.Highlights of the articleMoral judgment processing was found to be altered in women with PTSD related to chronic childhood trauma.In comparison to healthy women, women with PTSD were less likely to approve utilitarian actions when required to assume their agency in dilemmas involving the infliction of direct physical harm.Decreased likelihood of utilitarian action approval by the PTSD sample was driven by significantly enhanced endorsement of guilt and shame as consequences of such actions.Endorsement of guilt and shame in moral dilemmas was related to increased severity of current clinical symptoms of guilt.

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mentioning

confidence: 56%

Moral reasoning in women with posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse

Nazarov

Walaszczyk

Frewen

et al. 2016

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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“…The TEQ has been used in studies conducted in a number of different countries, such as Canada (Cusi et al 2011;Lamothe et al 2014;Parlar et al 2014), United Kingdom (Brewer and Kerslake 2015;Robinson and Wright 2013), USA (Baldner and McGinley 2014), France (Lelorain et al 2013), Turkey (Celik et al 2013;Totan et al 2012), Romania (Miu and Balteş 2012;Baltes , and Miu 2014) and Trinidad and Tobago (Youssef et al 2014). It has proven to be a reliable measure of empathy for different age groups with satisfactory psychometric properties: adolescents (Brewer and Kerslake 2015), university students (Baldner and McGinley 2014;Celik et al 2013;Totan et al 2012;Youssef et al 2014) and adults (Cusi et al 2011;Lamothe et al 2014;Parlar et al 2014;Robinson and Wright 2013;Lelorain et al 2013).…”

Section: Toronto Empathy Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has proven to be a reliable measure of empathy for different age groups with satisfactory psychometric properties: adolescents (Brewer and Kerslake 2015), university students (Baldner and McGinley 2014;Celik et al 2013;Totan et al 2012;Youssef et al 2014) and adults (Cusi et al 2011;Lamothe et al 2014;Parlar et al 2014;Robinson and Wright 2013;Lelorain et al 2013). The TEQ has also been used in clinical populations assessing the empathetic responding of adults with major depressive disorder (Cusi et al 2011) and post-traumatic stress disorder (Parlar et al 2014), and in individuals who experienced crisis episodes (Robinson and Wright 2013). In two recent studies TEQ was chosen to investigate how empathy influences music-induced emotions (Miu and Balteş 2012;Baltes , and Miu 2014), while in two others it was used to research the empathetic concern of general practitioners (physicians) (Lamothe et al 2014;Lelorain et al 2013).…”

Section: Toronto Empathy Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: Reliability and Validity in a Nationwide Sample of Greek Teachers

et al. 2017

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Abstract:The present study examined the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire's (TEQ) validity and reliability in a sample of 3955 Greek teachers. In order to test the internal consistency reliability, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used and was found satisfactory at 0.72. The sample was randomly split and an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the even subsample, justifying the one-factor solution, with the only discrepancy of the low loading of an item. In the odd subsample a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to confirm the one-factor model identified by the EFA. The chi square test (χ 2 ) of the model was significant (p < 0.05), while the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the comparative fit index (CFI) and the goodness of fit index (GFI) values were 0.078, 0.969 and 0.960, respectively, further supporting the model's fit. Student's t-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that women, teachers with children of their own, those working full-time in public schools, those with students who needed special education, and those who had received mental health promotion training, scored higher. Additionally, multiple linear regression analysis revealed that sex, working status, having students who needed special education, and having attended mental health training courses were independently associated with TEQ score. The analyses confirmed that the Greek version of TEQ could be used for researches in Greek educators as a valid and reliable measure of teachers' empathy.

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“…PTSD patients show reduced perspective taking on the IRI, attributed to the emotional numbing and avoidance components of PTSD (Nietlisbach and Maercker, 2009; Nietlisbach et al, 2010; Parlar et al, 2014). Our findings suggest that perspective taking is reduced with trauma exposure, rather than changing only in those with a PTSD diagnosis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of military service and deployment on clinical symptomatology: The role of trauma exposure and social support

Moore

Risbrough

Baker

et al. 2017

Journal of Psychiatric Research

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The Marine Resiliency Study-II examined changes in symptomatology across a deployment cycle to Afghanistan. U.S. Servicemembers (N = 1041) received clinical testing at two time points either bracketing a deployment (855) or not (186). Factor analyses were used to generate summary and change scores from Time 1 to Time 2. A between-subject design was used to examine changes across the deployment cycle with deployment (low-trauma, high-trauma, and non-deployed) and social support (low vs. high) as the grouping variables. Insomnia increased post-deployment regardless of deployment trauma (std. effect for high-trauma and low-trauma = 0.39 and 0.26, respectively). Only the high-trauma group showed increased PTSD symptoms and non-perspective-taking (std. effect = 0.40 and 0.30, respectively), while low-trauma showed decreased anxiety symptoms after deployment (std. effect = −0.17). These associations also depend on social support, with std. effects ranging from −0.22 to 0.51. When the groups were compared, the high-trauma deployed group showed significantly worse PTSD and non-perspective-taking than all other groups. Similar to studies in other military divisions, increased clinical symptoms were associated with high deployment stress in active duty Servicemembers, and social support shows promise as a moderator of said association.

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Alterations in empathic responding among women with posttraumatic stress disorder associated with childhood trauma

Cited by 57 publications

References 53 publications

Moral reasoning in women with posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse

Moral reasoning in women with posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse

The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: Reliability and Validity in a Nationwide Sample of Greek Teachers

Effects of military service and deployment on clinical symptomatology: The role of trauma exposure and social support

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