Disclosure and Social Acknowledgement as Predictors of Recovery from Posttraumatic Stress: A Longitudinal Study in Crime Victims

Abstract

W La Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, vol 53, no 3, mars 2008 160Objective: To address posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) predictors with research focused on the coping styles of traumatized individuals.Method: A total of 86 crime victims (mean age 46.1, standard deviation 17.6) were assessed at 5 and 11 months post-crime. Disclosure of trauma, social acknowledgement, dysfunctional posttraumatic cognitions, and PTSD symptom severity were assessed by self-reports.Results: Dysfunctional posttraumatic cognitions, disclosure attitudes, and social disapproval correlated positively with PTSD severity. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed the particular value of disclosure attitudes and perceived social disapproval in predicting PTSD symptom severity at 11 months post-crime. Conclusions:In addition to known predictors of PTSD, disclosure attitudes and social acknowledgement should also be considered. Future research should focus on broader concepts such as the victim's perception of, and interaction with, their social environment, and on the objective factors of social interaction, in addition to intrapersonal processes of posttraumatic recovery. Can J Psychiatry 2008;53(3):160-168Information on funding and support and author affiliations appears at the end of the article. Clinical Implications· Disclosure attitudes, for example, the pronounced urge and (or) reluctance to talk, predict PTSD symptomatology and should be considered with PTSD patients. · The lack of general social acknowledgement of the victim predicts PTSD symptomatology and should be considered with PTSD patients. · Questionnaires that reliably and validly assess disclosure attitudes and social acknowledgement may be helpful in identifying individuals at risk for PTSD. Limitations· The low response rate of the study is a problem as the predictors that were addressed likely influenced participation. · The study's longitudinal design is somewhat biased as we received data for only individual, 6-month courses within 1.5 years after traumatization. · In addition to conducting questionnaire assessments, conducting field studies with trauma victims and their relatives would be helpful for obtaining objective data on the interpersonal processes of trauma recovery.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms among Polish World War II survivors: the role of social acknowledgement

“…Similar results showing that General Disapproval was positively and significantly related to PTSD have been presented by Mueller, Moergeli and Maercker (2008) in a study of crime victims. Schumm et al (2014), who performed structural equation modelling of the results of their study of US military veterans seeking PTSD treatment, found that General Disapproval was positively and significantly related to PTSD, whereas both Recognition and Family Disapproval were not.…”

Association Between Social Acknowledgment And Trauma Disclosure

“…Findings of our study also indicated that trauma disclosure might be predicted by social acknowledgment. Several studies indicated possible associations between trauma disclosure and social acknowledgment (4,9), however these associations were not analyzed in detail previously.…”

“…Several metaanalysis of trauma disclosure revealed significant positive effects on physical and psychological health outcomes (1,2). Research also indicated that previous disclosure of traumatic events was associated with increased emotional coping, positive life changes after traumatic experience and posttraumatic growth (3), and less posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (4,5). Research on trauma disclosure was largely influenced by the Pennebaker paradigm which proposed emotional writing as a method of coping with trauma (6).…”

“…Since then several studies showed that social acknowledgment can be a significant protective factor following trauma exposure (9,10). Studies also indicated that trauma disclosure might be associated with social acknowledgment (4,9). However, there are no studies exploring how different dimensions of social acknowledgment are associated with trauma disclosure.…”

Associations between societal disapproval and changes in symptoms of PTSD and appetitive aggression following treatment among high-risk South African males

“…In relation to family disapproval and recognition, the findings are more diverse, with results indicating that family disapproval is either positively associated with (Maercker & Müller, 2004) or unrelated to PTSD (Sommer et al, 2017b; Jones et al, 2006). Recognition has been revealed to be either negatively related to (Maercker, Povilonyte, Lianova, & Pöhlmann, 2009) or unrelated to PTSD (Mueller, Moergeli, & Maercker, 2008); however, in a South African victim–offender population, a positive relationship between recognition and PTSD was found, as discussed in Sommer et al (2017b). …”