The effect of sensitization and coping style on post-traumatic stress symptoms and quality of life: two longitudinal studies.
The present study investigated the effects of multiple trauma exposure and coping style on post-traumatic stress symptoms and quality of life. It was hypothesized that sensitization would occur in subjects repeatedly exposed to life-threatening situations (study 1), and different coping styles would act as a resilience or facilitating factor in symptom development (study 2). The results showed that the single-exposure group revealed a decrease in trauma specific stress reactions from three weeks to four months, with a persistent reduction at 12-month follow-up, while the repeated-exposure group showed an increase in symptom reporting over the 12-month period. The same pattern emerged for perceived quality of life-measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30). The second study revealed a correlation between scores on avoidant-focused coping style and the Impact of Event Scale-avoidance dimension, Post-traumatic Symptom Scale and GHQ-30. Furthermore, only subjects with a dominant coping style of emotion-focused or task-focused coping showed a reduction in trauma-specific symptom scores over time.
Johnsen
Bjørn Helge
BH
Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Norway. bjoern.johnsen@psych.uib.no
Eid
Jarle
J
Laberg
Jon Christian
JC
Thayer
Julian F
JF
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D020886:Somatosensory Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors