Symposia
Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders and Disasters
Madeline J. Bruce, M.S.
Saint Louis University
Ballwin, Missouri
Background: Is the death of a loved one clinically traumatic? Several theories support bereavement as trauma. The Shattered Assumptions Theory (Janoff-Bulman, 1989) details how schemas of how the world works are significantly disrupted post-trauma. This conceptualization differs from the DSM’s criterion A definition of trauma, which has historically emphasized extraordinary events, not the common experience of a loved one’s death. Rosen & Lilienfeld (2008) called for research delineating pathways toward posttraumatic sequala after different events. The Cognitive Stress and Growth Model (CSGM; Brooks et al., 2017) provides one such pathway that could support further research in CBT interventions in treating PTSD and promoting posttraumatic growth (PTG).
Method: We used archival data from MTurk and isolated a bereavement group (n = 93) and a group endorsing criterion A level events (n = 90). We conducted several hierarchical regressions modeling present control, future control, intrusive rumination, deliberate rumination, and event centrality to account for PTSD and PTG.
Results: PTSD scores were similar across groups, Mbereave = 17.80, McriterionA = 19.52, p > .05. Models were significant and accounted for similar amounts of variance in PTSD, R2bereave = .46; R2criterionA = .46, but bereavement was marked by future control, β = .16, whereas criterion A was marked by a lack of present control, β = -.37. Intrusive rumination was predictive in both groups, but significantly more so in bereavement, p < .05. PTG scores were similar across groups, Mbereave = 46.33, McriterionA = 47.30, p > .05. Models were significant and accounted for similar amounts of variance in PTG, R2bereave = .29; R2criterionA = .22, and present control was predictive in both groups at similar strengths, p > .05. Bereavement was marked by resolving intrusive rumination, β = -.26.
Conclusion: Cognitive correlates overlapped and differed across groups. Resolving intrusive rumination is a major part of recovery for both, but especially in bereavement. Control is another feature. PTG correlated with resolving control regardless of event. These results speak to the differences in predictability of these events: most will experience death, but not all expect assaults, disasters, etc. Results implore further research of cultural narratives that help people process different traumas.