The Launching and Ensnaring Effects of Construing a Traumatic Event as Central to One's Identity and Life Story

Abstract

SummaryConstruing a traumatic event as central to one's life story and identity is associated with posttraumatic stress. The longitudinal relationship between centrality of event and trajectories of posttraumatic stress was examined. Data from ministerial employees were collected 10 months, 2 years, and 3 years after the 2011 Oslo bombing (N = 259). Using structural equation modeling, the launch and the snare hypotheses were tested. Support for the launch hypothesis was found; higher levels of event centrality 10 months after the attack were associated with higher levels of posttraumatic stress across time. Support for the snare hypothesis was also found; higher levels of centrality 10 months and 2 years after the bombing were related to higher levels of posttraumatic stress, beyond what could be anticipated based on the individual's general trajectory. This suggests that event centrality can influence the overall trajectory, and may also have additional time‐specific effects on posttraumatic stress.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Psychological and clinical correlates of the Centrality of Event Scale: A systematic review

“…An especially strong relationship was found between the CES and trauma-related measures. This is consistent with theoretical models of PTSD emphasizing a key role of the traumatic memory in the development and maintenance of PTSD symptoms (e.g., Berntsen & Rubin, 2008; Rubin et al, 2008a) as well as recent findings suggesting event centrality as measured by the CES is a risk factor for PTSD development (Boals & Murrell, 2016; Boals & Ruggero, 2016; Blix et al, 2016). From an applied perspective, the present findings underscore the importance of clinicians paying attention to event centrality and how this relates to the experienced symptoms when working with patients who have been exposed to highly stressful or traumatic events in their past.…”

Post-traumatic growth mediates the relationship between valences of trauma centralisation and health-related quality of life

“…The associations between each valence of EC and HRQoL were also mediated by PTG. These findings suggest that EC may not be a double-edged sword or a paradoxical variable that predicts both positive and negative health outcomes in the same direction, as suggested by previous studies (e.g., Blix et al, 2016; Boals & Schuettler, 2011; Groleau et al, 2013). It seems that the pattern of association between EC and health outcomes may be a function of the valence of emotion (negative or positive) upon which trauma survivors integrate their traumatic experiences.…”

The centrality of a loss-event: Patterns, correlates, and predictive value

“…Membership of centrality classes did not predict later depression and PTS. These findings add to prior evidence that elevated event-centrality is concurrently and longitudinally associated with increased event-related psychopathology following loss-events (Boelen, 2012a(Boelen, , 2017 as well as other adverse events (Blix et al, 2016;Boals & Ruggero, 2015). We did not assess loss-centrality at a later point; intriguingly, a recent study indicated that, among people exposed to terror, PTS severity prospectively predicted later event-centrality but not vice versa (Glad et al, 2020).…”