Social Interactions, Posttraumatic Cognitions, and Posttraumatic Stress: A Multiple Mediation Analysis
Seren Krishingner, Gretchen Wanning, Rebekah Marcengill, Alicia Fulton
Negative posttraumatic cognitions (PTCs) and social support are two well-established correlates of post-traumatic stress severity (PTSS). Posttraumatic cognitions are thoughts directly related to a traumatic experience, and most often assessed via the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (Foa et al., 1999) which includes three subscales: negative thoughts about self, negative thoughts about the world, and self-blame. Several studies have measured the relationships among social support, PTCs, and PTSS, focusing on whether PTCs mediate the relationship between social support and PTSS. However, these studies vary in how they conceptualize social support. Some researchers have focused on types (Zang et al., 2017) and amount of social support (Woodward et al., 2015), whereas others have focused on the quality of social interactions surrounding traumatic experiences, such as blaming and minimizing (e.g., Morris & Quevillon, 2021; Belsher et al., 2012). Further, these previous studies examined PTCs as a unitary construct. Our study uniquely adds to this body of research in the following ways. First, we separately examined the mediating effects of the three subtypes of PTCs (negative thoughts about the self, world, and self-blame) rather than treating PTCs as a unitary construct. Second, we assessed trauma-related social interactions via the Unsupportive Social Interactions Inventory (USII; Ingram et al., 1999). The USII consists of four subscales (distancing, bumbling, minimizing, and blaming) and provides insight into the quality of social support received in the wake of a traumatic experience. Based on Morris and Quevillon’s (2021) report that PTCs partially mediated the relationship between negative social reactions and PTSS, we hypothesized that in our model unsupportive social interactions would demonstrate both indirect effects and a direct effect on PTSS. Because all previous studies have treated PTCs as a unitary construct, we did not make predictions about the relative strength of specific mediation effects for the three types of PTCs. This project is a secondary data analysis of a larger project conducted by the first author. Participants were 472 U.S.-based Amazon Mechanical Turk workers (66% women; Mage = 36.71, SDage = 12.90) who reported their trauma history, identified their worst event, and completed several self-report measures in relation to that worst event. We conducted a mediation analysis to examine direct and indirect effects of unsupportive interactions and negative PTCs on PTSS, with special attention to the separate mediation effects of the three types of PTCs. The impact of unsupportive interactions on PTSS was mediated by negative thoughts about self (standardized estimate = 0.29, p < .001, 95% CI [0.22, 0.38]) and negative thoughts about the world (standardized estimate = 0.10, p < .001, 95% CI [0.06, 0.14]), but not by self-blame (standardized estimate = -0.02, p = 0.37, 95% CI [-.07, 0.03]). Further, the direct effect of unsupportive interactions on PTSS was statistically significant, standardized estimate = 0.29, p < .001, 95% CI [0.19, 0.38]. The total of direct and indirect effects explained approximately 55% of the variance in PTSS, R-squared = .55. We will discuss potential clinical and future research implications of these findings.
Seren Krishingner is majoring in Psychology and Sociology at Lander University. Seren is studying how post-cognitive and social factors influence post-traumatic symptom severity in The Stress and Cognition Lab, led by Dr. Southard-Dobbs. Seren’s major achievements include co-authoring two award nominated research projects and presenting them at the Southeastern Psychological Association’s 68Th Annual Meeting, being inducted as a lifetime member of The International Sociology Honor Society (AKD), and volunteering for Beyond Abuse.
Gretchen Wanning is a senior from Greenwood, South Carolina majoring in Psychology. She is a research assistant in Dr. Southard-Dobbs’s Stress and Cognition Lab, and her love for psychology has grown because of the interesting and detailed topics the lab has researched for the past two semesters. After she graduates, Gretchen plans to attend an accelerated nursing program.
Rebekah Marcengill is a junior psychology major and art minor from Greenwood, S.C. She is a Research Assistant in the Stress and Cognition lab led by Dr. Southard-Dobbs. She is also a Supplemental Instructor for Psychology 101.
Alicia Fulton is a senior Psychology major from Kingstree, SC, a small town outside of Charleston, SC. Alicia is a lead student author in the Stress and Cognition lab, led by Dr. Southard-Dobbs studying post – traumatic cognitions and will be presenting at the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) Conference. Outside of class, Alicia spends her time serving our country in the SC National Guard, volunteering at Beyond Abuse in the Greenwood area and exploring her surroundings as much as possible.