Hopelessness as a risk factor for post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among interpersonal violence survivors.
Post-traumatic stress disorder often co-occurs with depression, and they may share common risk factors. One possible common cognitive risk factor is hopelessness. Thus, we examined whether hopelessness was related to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Participants were 202 female survivors of interpersonal violence. Relationships between self-reported and interviewer-rated measures of hopelessness gathered at 2 weeks post-trauma and self-reported and interviewer-rated symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder gathered at 2 weeks and 3 months post-trauma were examined. Hierarchical, simultaneous regression analyses that co-varied trauma type revealed that hopelessness was related to self-reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, both concurrently and prospectively. Follow-up analyses revealed that relationships between hopelessness and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder were due almost entirely to shared variance with depression. No relationships were found between hopelessness and interviewer-rated symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Department of Psychology, California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA. cscher@csusb.edu
Christine D
CD
Scher
Patricia A
PA
Resick
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*