The role of rumination in the occurrence of positive effects of experienced traumatic events

Abstract

Cognitive processes play a significant role in both the negative and positive consequences of traumatic experiences. The aim of this research was to investigate the role of rumination in the occurrence of positive effects, in the form of posttraumatic growth, of experienced traumatic events. participants and procedureData were collected from 227 subjects who had experienced traumatic events, including cancer patients (31.30%), women who had experienced domestic violence (39.20%), and medical rescue workers exposed to traumatic events at work (29.50%). The age of participants ranged from 19 to 67 years (M = 40.12, SD = 13.28). The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory was used to measure positive changes, and the Event Related Rumination Inventory was used to assess the two types of ruminations (intrusive and deliberate). resultsBoth types of ruminations (intrusive and deliberate) were positively correlated with the level of posttraumatic growth in the group of cancer patients, and deliberate ruminations were associated with posttraumatic growth in the group of women who had experienced domestic violence and in the medical rescue workers. The results of regression analysis confirmed a significant role of deliberate rumination. conclusionsThe study of ruminations allows us to better explain the mechanisms underlying the consequences of traumatic experiences.

Burnout and posttraumatic stress symptoms in police officers exposed to traumatic events: the mediating role of ruminations

“…Empirical evidence indicates that predominantly ruminative thinking plays a dominant role in the development and maintenance of PTSD (Cann et al 2011;Ehring and Ehlers 2014;Ehlers and Clark 2000). This has been confirmed by previous studies carried out in Poland among medical rescue workers (Ogińska-Bulik and Juczyński 2016) and in a group of people who experienced various types of trauma, including work-related trauma (Ogińska-Bulik 2016, 2017.…”

“…It should be noted that although intrusive ruminations mainly favor the occurrence of PTSD, they may also foster positive changes, expressed in the form of posttraumatic growth (Ogińska-Bulik 2016). Intrusive thinking, which is a natural reaction after experiencing a traumatic event, can be a prelude to conscious rumination, acting to find ways of coping with this situation.…”

The impact of non-infection pandemic stress on depression and anxiety severity: Investigating mediation by intrusive and deliberate rumination

“…An explanation for this is that stressful experiences lead directly to disruptions of core beliefs as well as IR about the stress (e.g., Choi and In, 2020 ), which is usually a distressing and upsetting experience. DR increases in response to this as one tries to understand their experience and adapt their core beliefs to accommodate new information, which leads to PTG ( Ogińska-Bulik, 2016 ) even if that experience is still somewhat distressing and thus increases PTS (e.g., Zhou and Wu, 2016 ). This increase in PTG provides a psychological buffer that has been shown to reduce risk of depression longitudinally ( Qi et al, 2020 ).…”

Path to posttraumatic growth: The role of centrality of event, deliberate and intrusive rumination, and self blame in women victims and survivors of intimate partner violence

“…Authors indicate two types of rumination: intrusive which is automatic and more present at the beginning of the process, and deliberate which is more reflective, appearing later in the process of PTG ( Cann et al, 2011 ). Studies repeatedly indicate a positive relation between deliberate rumination and PTG ( Ogińska-Bulik, 2016 ; Lafarge et al, 2020 ; Freedle and Kashubeck-West, 2021 ), and a negative or no relation between intrusive rumination and PTG ( Stockton et al, 2011 ; Lafarge et al, 2020 ; Freedle and Kashubeck-West, 2021 ). The centrality of event is also found to be related to both types of rumination ( Brooks et al, 2017 ; Kramer et al, 2020 ).…”