title: Autobiographical integration of trauma memories and repressive coping predict post-traumatic stress symptoms in undergraduate students.
abstract: What differentiates those who are able to adapt well to adverse life events (i.e., persons who are resilient) from those who are not (e.g., persons who develop post-traumatic stress symptoms)? Previous work suggests that enhanced autobiographical integration of trauma memories is associated with more severe post-traumatic stress symptoms. Extending this line of work, the present study looked at whether the integration of trauma memories, repressive coping and cognitive reactivity are related to post-traumatic stress symptomatology following negative life events among otherwise healthy young adults (N = 213). Results show that while enhanced integration of trauma memories and high levels of dissociation are related to elevated levels of post-traumatic stress, people who generally engage in repressive coping report fewer post-traumatic stress symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. tom.smeets@maastrichtuniversity.nl
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smeets
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Giesbrecht
authors.forename: Linsey
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Raymaekers
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Merckelbach
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult