title: Stress sensitivity mediates the relationship between traumatic life events and attenuated positive psychotic symptoms differentially by gender in a college population sample.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether stress sensitivity mediates the relationship between traumatic life events and total attenuated positive psychotic symptoms, as well as the relationship between traumatic life events and endorsement of 8 or more attenuated positive psychotic symptoms as distressing (a threshold that has been associated with higher risk for psychosis in clinical groups). Participants (n = 671, aged 17-35, 29% male) were college students who were administered the Prodromal Questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale and the Life Events Checklist. Bootstrapping results indicated that stress sensitivity significantly mediated the relationships between traumatic life events and the number of attenuated positive psychotic symptoms endorsed and between traumatic life events and those who endorsed 8 or more distressing attenuated positive psychotic symptoms. Stratified gender analyses indicated the findings were specific to females. Results suggest that stress sensitivity may represent a specific vulnerability factor for risk of attenuated psychotic symptoms in those previously exposed to traumatic life events and that this liability appears stronger in females.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.affiliation: The Graduate Center and City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Deidre M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Anglin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Klugman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Reeves
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Fineberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Seth D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Maxwell
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Connor M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kerns
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Electronic address: ellman@temple.edu.
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ellman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Prodromal; Schizophrenia; Sex differences; Stress; Subclinical psychosis; Trauma