title: Characteristics and organization of the worst moment of trauma memories in posttraumatic stress disorder.
abstract: It has been proposed that the organization of the worst moment in traumatic memories ("hotspots") is of particular importance for the development of PTSD. However, current knowledge regarding the organization and content of worst moments is incomplete. In the present study, trauma survivors with (n=25) and without PTSD (n=54) were asked to indicate the worst moment of their trauma and to give a detailed narrative of the traumatic event. The worst moment and the remaining narrative were analyzed separately with regard to organization and emotional content. Results indicated that worst moments of trauma survivors with PTSD differed from the remaining narrative and from worst moments described by trauma survivors without PTSD in that they were characterized by more unfinished thoughts, more use of the present tense and lower levels of cognitive processing. However, hypotheses regarding differentiating emotional content were not supported. Implications for our theoretical understanding of PTSD and potential therapeutic interventions are discussed.
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany. l.jelinek@uke.uni-hamburg.de
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jelinek
authors.forename: Colette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stockbauer
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Randjbar
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kellner
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ehring
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moritz
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D033262:Narration; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D014754:Violence