title: Social defeat and PTSD symptoms following trauma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Research indicates that constructs relevant to social rank predict a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including mental defeat, alienation, and shame. However, no studies have yet explored a social rank view explicitly.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a community-based study carried out online. Analyses were both cross-sectional and longitudinal over 6 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were recruited online for a cross-sectional study (Study 1, n = 194) and a 6-month longitudinal study (Study 2, n = 81). Measures included self-report measures of PTSD symptoms (the Post-Traumatic Diagnostic Scale) and social rank (including measures of unfavourable social comparison, social defeat, and internal/external entrapment).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cross-sectional analysis showed that social defeat, but not other aspects of social rank, was independently predictive of a diagnosis of PTSD. Longitudinal analysis showed that greater social defeat at baseline predicted less improvement in PTSD symptoms, whereas greater reduction in social defeat over the 6-month follow-up predicted greater improvement in PTSD symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In addition to the implications for understanding the role of social (rather than individual mental) defeat in the aetiology of PTSD, interventions could usefully incorporate methods that either increase social status or else minimize the impact of low status (e.g., through the use of compassion-focused approaches).
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Troop
authors.forename: Syd
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hiskey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012752:Shame; D012931:Social Environment; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: PTSD; defeat; involuntary subordination; social rank