title: Peritraumatic fear, helplessness and horror and peritraumatic dissociation: do physical and cognitive symptoms of panic mediate the relationship between the two?
abstract: The goal of this study was to examine whether panic mediates the relationship between fear, helplessness, and horror (PTSD criterion A2) and dissociation at the time of trauma. The study sample included 709 police officers and 317 peer-nominated civilians who had been exposed to a variety of critical incidents. Participants filled out measures of critical incident exposure, PTSD criterion A2, panic, and dissociation. Results indicate that together, physical and cognitive symptoms of panic completely mediate the relationship between criterion A2 and dissociation in civilians, and partially mediate that relationship in police. These results provide support for the idea that panic mediates the relationship between fear, helplessness, and horror (criterion A2) and dissociation at the time of trauma. The results also raise the possibility, however, that the mediational role of panic may be further moderated by additional variables.
authors.affiliation: Douglas Hospital Research Center, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. deniz.fikretoglu@mail.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fikretoglu
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brunet
authors.forename: Suzanne R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Best
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Metzler
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Delucchi
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fagan
authors.forename: Akiva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liberman
authors.forename: Charles R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Marmar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010200:Panic; D016495:Police; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*