Emotional suppression in torture survivors: Relationship to posttraumatic stress symptoms and trauma-related negative affect.
While clinical reports suggest that torture survivors may try to suppress their emotions during torture, little is known about the use of emotional suppression following torture. In this study, 82 refugees and asylum-seekers (including 33 torture survivors) completed self-report measures of trait suppression, PTSD symptoms and baseline negative affect before being exposed to images depicting scenes of interpersonal trauma. The use of suppression while viewing the images was indexed and negative affect was measured both immediately after viewing the images and following a five minute rest period. Findings indicated that torture survivors did not show higher rates of trait suppression or state emotional suppression during the experimental session compared to non-torture survivors. However, torture survivors who endorsed state suppression higher levels of distress, and this relationship was especially strong for those with more severe PTSD symptoms. In contrast, there was a negative relationship between state suppression and distress for non-torture survivors with high levels of PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest that, while torture exposure does not lead to greater use of suppression, it does influence the impact of suppression on emotional responses to stimuli.
School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: anickerson@psy.unsw.edu.au.
Angela
A
Nickerson
School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Benjamin
B
Garber
School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Ola
O
Ahmed
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Anu
A
Asnaani
School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Jessica
J
Cheung
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States.
Stefan G
SG
Hofmann
School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Ly
L
Huynh
School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Belinda
B
Liddell
Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiological Research and Information Center, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States.
Brett T
BT
Litz
School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Rosanna
R
Pajak
School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Richard A
RA
Bryant
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001315:Australia; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000067073:Psychological Trauma / Q000523:psychology*; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D014104:Torture / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
Anxiety/Anxiety disorders; Crossnational; Life events/stress; Mental disorders; Minority groups; PTSD/posttraumatic stress disorder; Post-traumatic; Refugees; Stress disorders; Trauma