A prospective test of the association between hyperarousal and emotional numbing in youth with a history of traumatic stress.
Investigated the hypothesis that emotional numbing may develop as a result of hyperarousal using a prospective design. Forty-two children between the ages of 7 and 14 with a history of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents (CAPS-CA; Nader et al., 1996) and were reassessed 1 year later. Results indicated that hyperarousal symptoms were concurrently positively correlated with emotional numbing at both time points. Moreover, Time 1 hyperarousal symptoms were associated with emotional numbing at Time 2 and predicted Time 2 emotional numbing even when controlling for each of the other symptom clusters of PTSD at Time 1 as well as other concurrent (i.e., Time 2) PTSD symptoms. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of the findings for enhancing the understanding of PTSD symptoms in youth.
Weems
Carl F
CF
Department of Psychology, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA. cweems@uno.edu
Saltzman
Kasey M
KM
Reiss
Allan L
AL
Carrion
Victor G
VG
D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001143:Arousal; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*