Distress Tolerance and Emotion Regulation as Potential Mediators Between Secondary Traumatic Stress and Maladaptive Coping

Abstract

The extant literature has illustrated that protective service workers experience negative repercussions associated with their job (including the development of secondary traumatic stress; STS) and may utilize maladaptive coping mechanisms. Developing an improved understanding of factors that might explain the relationship between STS and the utilization of maladaptive coping mechanisms is warranted. This study sought to examine emotion regulation and distress tolerance as potential mediators between STS and the utilization of maladaptive coping mechanisms. Participants were 152 elder protective service workers and 105 child protective service workers who completed an online survey of self-report measures of emotion regulation, distress tolerance, STS, and coping behaviors. A parallel multiple mediator model was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the hypothesis that distress tolerance and emotion regulation would mediate the relationship between STS and the utilization of maladaptive coping. Our hypothesis was partially supported as the effect of STS on maladaptive coping was mediated by emotion regulation but not by distress tolerance. The results from this study have both prevention and intervention implications. From a prevention perspective, efforts could be directed at teaching emotion regulation skills to those at risk for developing STS as a mechanism for decreasing the probability of denial, substance use, behavioral disengagement, and self-blame that may occur as a consequence of STS. From an intervention perspective, some of the negative sequelae of exposure to STS may be averted by teaching EPS and CPS workers who present with STS symptoms, emotion regulation skills.

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“…Stressful events and troubles in a person's life affect their psyche and trigger the corresponding processes of receiving, interacting, and processing information, which is reflected in the person's perception, thinking, memory, and emotions. Due to the experience gained, specific mental states are developed that affect human behaviour, both in everyday life and conditions of danger (Benuto et al, 2022).…”

“…Under the influence of unfavourable factors, changes occur in the human body (on the physical, emotional, and psychological levels), where the mental state of an individual is an extremely sensitive indicator of change. Human stress resilience in the social and psychological context is considered as an individual's ability to adapt to society, maintain relationships, performance, and health, and achieve purposes (Benuto et al, 2022). Increasing a person's stress resistance or preserving it is associated with the search for resources helping to overcome the adverse effects of stressful situations (Carroll, 1992).…”

Heterogeneity in College Student’s Technology-Facilitated Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Occurring Post-Breakup: A Latent Profile Analysis

“…Emotional regulation, specifically impulse control and emotion regulation strategies are commonly studied self-regulatory processes linked to CDA perpetration (Brem, Stuart et al, 2019; Neilson et al, 2021). A risk factor closely related to emotion regulation is distress tolerance (Benuto et al, 2022), which is broadly understood as the capacity to tolerate aversive and/or emotional states (Simons & Gaher, 2005). Individuals with low distress tolerance have been shown to be more likely to use alcohol or other substances to avoid experiencing negative psychological states (Simons & Gaher, 2005), making them more susceptible to impelling factors.…”

The mediating effect of distress tolerance on the relationship between stressful life events and suicide risk in patients with major depressive disorder

“…Besides, distress tolerance is considered as a promising target within a variety of psychotherapeutic approaches in the context of treatments for depression [18]. Consistent with negative reinforcement models of the development of mental disorders, the lower levels of distress tolerance of individuals, the more likely to manage their emotions using some maladaptive coping strategies to avoid negative emotional status, such as substance use problems, self-harm and suicide behaviors [19][20][21][22]. Research has shown that low levels of distress tolerance are associated with increased risk for suicide [23].…”