Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:16:10.013Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The longitudinal relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder and perceived social support in survivors of traumatic injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2016

A. Nickerson ,
M. Creamer ,
D. Forbes ,
A. C. McFarlane ,
M. L. O'Donnell ,
D. Silove ,
Z. Steel ,
K. Felmingham ,
D. Hadzi-Pavlovic  and
R. A. Bryant
A. Nickerson*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
M. Creamer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
D. Forbes
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Phoenix Australia: Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
A. C. McFarlane
Affiliation:
Center for Traumatic Stress Studies, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
M. L. O'Donnell
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Phoenix Australia: Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
D. Silove
Affiliation:
School of Psychiatry and Ingham Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Z. Steel
Affiliation:
School of Psychiatry and Ingham Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia St John of God, Richmond Hospital, North Richmond, NSW, Australia
K. Felmingham
Affiliation:
School of Psychological Science, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
D. Hadzi-Pavlovic
Affiliation:
School of Psychiatry and Ingham Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia St John of God, Richmond Hospital, North Richmond, NSW, Australia
R. A. Bryant
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Millennium Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
*
*Address for correspondence: A. Nickerson, Ph.D., School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. (Email: anickerson@psy.unsw.edu.au)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Although perceived social support is thought to be a strong predictor of psychological outcomes following trauma exposure, the temporal relationship between perceived positive and negative social support and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms has not been empirically established. This study investigated the temporal sequencing of perceived positive social support, perceived negative social support, and PTSD symptoms in the 6 years following trauma exposure among survivors of traumatic injury.

Method

Participants were 1132 trauma survivors initially assessed upon admission to one of four Level 1 trauma hospitals in Australia after experiencing a traumatic injury. Participants were followed up at 3 months, 12 months, 24 months, and 6 years after the traumatic event.

Results

Latent difference score analyses revealed that greater severity of PTSD symptoms predicted subsequent increases in perceived negative social support at each time-point. Greater severity of PTSD symptoms predicted subsequent decreases in perceived positive social support between 3 and 12 months. High levels of perceived positive or negative social support did not predict subsequent changes in PTSD symptoms at any time-point.

Conclusions

Results highlight the impact of PTSD symptoms on subsequent perceived social support, regardless of the type of support provided. The finding that perceived social support does not influence subsequent PTSD symptoms is novel, and indicates that the relationship between PTSD and perceived social support may be unidirectional.

Keywords

Post-traumatic stress disordersocial supporttraumatraumatic stress
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 115 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

APA (1994). Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
APA (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). American Psychiatric Publishing: Arlington, Virginia.Google Scholar
Andrews, B, Brewin, CR, Rose, S (2003). Gender, social support, and PTSD in victims of violent crime. Journal of Traumatic Stress 16, 421–427.Google Scholar
Barrera, M (1988). Models of soscial support and life stress: beyond the buffering hypothesis. In Life Events and Psychological Functioning (ed. Cohen, L. H.), pp. 211–236. Sage: Beverly Hills, CA.Google Scholar
Blake, DD, Weathers, FW, Nagy, LM, Kaloupek, DG, Gusman, FD, Charney, DS, Keane, TM (1995). The development of a Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale. Journal of Traumatic Stress 8, 75–90.Google Scholar
Borja, SE, Callahan, JL, Long, PJ (2006). Positive and negative adjustment and social support of sexual assault survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress 19, 905–914.Google Scholar
Borja, SE, Callahan, JL, Rambo, PL (2009). Understanding negative outcomes following traumatic exposur: the roles of neuroticism and social support. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 1, 118–129.Google Scholar
Brewin, CR, Andrews, B, Valentine, JD (2000). Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 68, 748–766.Google Scholar
Campbell, R, Ahrens, CE, Sefl, T, Wasco, SM, Barnes, HE (2001). Social reactions to rape victims: healing and hurtful effects on psychological and physical health outcomes. Violence and Victims 16, 287–302.Google Scholar
Cloitre, M, Stovall-McClough, KC, Nooner, K, Zorbas, P, Cherry, S, Jackson, CL, Gan, W, Petkova, E (2010). Treatment for PTSD related to childhood abuse: a randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Psychiatry 167, 915–924.Google Scholar
Cook, JD, Bickman, L (1990). Social support and psychological symptomatology following a natural disaster. Journal of Traumatic Stress 3, 541–556.Google Scholar
Declercq, F, Palmans, V (2006). Two subjective factors as moderators between critical incidents and the occurrence of post traumatic stress disorders: adult attachment and perception of social support. Psychology and Psychotherapy 79, 323–337.Google Scholar
Dougall, AL, Ursano, RJ, Posluszny, DM, Fullerton, CS, Baum, A (2001). Predictors of posttraumatic stress among victims of motor vehicle accidents. Psychosomatic Medicine 63, 402–411.Google Scholar
Engdahl, B, Dikel, TN, Eberly, R, Blank, A Jr. (1997). Posttraumatic stress disorder in a community group of former prisoners of war: a normative response to severe trauma. American Journal of Psychiatry 154, 1576–1581.Google Scholar
Evans, SE, Steel, AL, DiLillo, D (2013). Child maltreatment severity and adult trauma symptoms: does perceived social support play a buffering role? Child Abuse and Neglect 37, 934–943.Google Scholar
Ferrer, E, McArdle, JJ (2010). Longitudinal modeling of developmental changes in psychological research. Current Directions in Psychological Science 19, 419–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gabert-Quillen, CA, Irish, LA, Sledjeski, E, Fallon, W, Spoonster, E, Delahanty, DL (2012). The impact of social support on the relationship between trauma history and PTSD symptoms in motor vehicle accident victims. International Journal of Stress Management 19, 69–79.Google Scholar
Galea, S, Tracy, M, Norris, F, Coffey, SF (2008). Financial and social circumstances and the incidence and course of PTSD in Mississippi during the first two years after Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Traumatic Stress 21, 357–368.Google Scholar
Grills-Taquechel, AE, Littleton, HL, Axsom, D (2011). Social support, world assumptions, and exposure as predictors of anxiety and quality of life following a mass trauma. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 25, 498–506.Google Scholar
Guay, S, Billette, V, Marchand, A (2006). Exploring the links between posttraumatic stress disorder and social support: processes and potential research avenues. Journal of Traumatic Stress 19, 327–338.Google Scholar
Gutner, CA, Rizvi, SL, Monson, CM, Resick, PA (2006). Changes in coping strategies, relationship to the perpetrator, and posttraumatic distress in female crime victims. Journal of Traumatic Stress 19, 813–823.Google Scholar
Hofmann, SG, Litz, BT, Weathers, FW (2003). Social anxiety, depression, and PTSD in Vietnam veterans. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 17, 573–582.Google Scholar
Holeva, V, Tarrier, N (2001). Personality and peritraumatic dissociation in the prediction of PTSD in victims of road traffic accidents. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 51, 687–692.Google Scholar
Holeva, V, Tarrier, N, Wells, A (2001). Prevalence and predictors of acute stress disorder and PTSD following road traffic accidents: thought control strategies and social support. Behavior Therapy 32, 65–83.Google Scholar
Hu, L, Bentler, PM (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling 6, 1–55.Google Scholar
Hyman, SM, Gold, SN, Cott, MA (2003). Forms of social support that moderate PTSD in childhood sexual abuse survivors. Journal of Family Violence 18, 295–300.Google Scholar
Kaniasty, K (2012). Predicting social psychological well-being following trauma: the role of postdisaster social support. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 4, 22–33.Google Scholar
Kaniasty, K, Norris, FH (1993). A test of the social support deterioration model in the context of natural disaster. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64, 395–408.Google Scholar
Kaniasty, K, Norris, FH (2008). Longitudinal linkages between perceived social support and posttraumatic stress symptoms: sequential roles of social causation and social selection. Journal of Traumatic Stress 21, 274–281.Google Scholar
King, DW, King, LA, McArdle, JJ, Shalev, AY, doron-LaMarca, S (2009). Sequential temporal dependencies in associations between symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder: an application of bivariate latent difference score structure equation modeling. Multivariate Behavioral Research 44, 437–464.Google Scholar
King, DW, King, LA, Taft, CT, Hammond, C, Stone, ER (2006 a). Directionality of the association between social support and post-traumatic stress disorder: a longitudinal investigation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 36, 2980–2992.Google Scholar
King, LA, King, DW, McArdle, JJ, Saxe, GN, Doron-Lamarca, S, Orazem, RJ (2006 b). Latent difference score approach to longitudinal trauma research. Journal of Traumatic Stress 19, 771–785.Google Scholar
Littleton, HL, Grills-Taquechel, AE, Axsom, D, Bye, K, Buck, KS (2012). Prior sexual trauma and adjustment following the Virginia Tech Campus shootings: examination of the mediating role of schemas. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research and Practice 4, 579–586.Google Scholar
MacDonald, C, Chamberlain, K, Long, N, Flett, R (1999). Posttraumatic stress disorder and interpersonal functioning in Vietnam war veterans: a mediational model. Journal of Traumatic Stress 12, 701–707.Google Scholar
McFarlane, AC, Bookless, C (2001). The effect of PTSD on interpersonal relationships: issues for emergency service workers. Sexual and Relationship Therapy 16, 261–267.Google Scholar
Mikulincer, M, Shaver, PR, Gillath, O, Nitzberg, RA (2005). Attachment, caregiving, and altruism: boosting attachment security increases compassion and helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 89, 817–839.Google Scholar
Muthén, LK, Muthén, BO (1998–2013). Mplus User's Guide, 6th edn. Muthén & Muthén: Los Angeles, CA.Google Scholar
Nickerson, A, Barnes, JB, Creamer, M, Forbes, D, McFarlane, AC, O'Donnell, M, Silove, D, Steel, Z, Bryant, RA (2014). The temporal relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder and problem alcohol use following traumatic injury. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 123, 821–834.Google Scholar
Ozer, EJ, Best, SR, Lipsey, TL, Weiss, DS (2003). Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and symptoms in adults: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 129, 52–73.Google Scholar
Pietrzak, RH, Johnson, DC, Goldstein, MB, Malley, JC, Rivers, AJ, Morgan, CA, Southwick, SM (2009). Psychosocial buffers of traumatic stress, depressive symptoms, and psychosocial difficulties in veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom: the role of resilience, unit support, and postdeployment social support. Journal of Special Operations Medicine 9, 74–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Punamaki, RL, Komproe, I, Qouta, S, El-Masri, M, de Jong, JT (2005). The deterioration and mobilization effects of trauma on social support: childhood maltreatment and adulthood military violence in a Palestinian community sample. Child Abuse and Neglect 29, 351–373.Google Scholar
Regehr, C, Hemsworth, D, Hill, J (2001). Individual predictors of posttraumatic distress: a structural equation model. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 46, 156–161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinaugh, DJ, Marques, L, Traeger, LN, Marks, EH, Sung, SC, Gayle Beck, J, Pollack, MH, Simon, NM (2011). Understanding the relationship of perceived social support to post-trauma cognitions and posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 25, 1072–1078.Google Scholar
Satorra, A, Bentler, PM (2001). A scaled difference chi square test statistic for moment structure analysis. Psychometrika 66, 507–514.Google Scholar
Schuster, TL, Kessler, RC, Aseltine, RH Jr. (1990). Supportive interactions, negative interactions, and depressed mood. American Journal of Community Psychology 18, 423–438.Google Scholar
Shallcross, SL, Frazier, PA, Anders, SL (2014). Social resources mediate the relations between attachment dimensions and distress following potentially traumatic events. Journal of Counseling Psychology 61, 352–362.Google Scholar
Solomon, Z, Mikulincer, M, Hobfoll, SE (1987). Objective versus subjective measurement of stress and social support: combat-related reactions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 55, 577–583.Google Scholar
Tarrier, N, Sommerfield, C, Pilgrim, H (1999). Relatives’ expressed emotion (EE) and PTSD treatment outcome. Psychological Medicine 29, 801–811.Google Scholar
Ullman, SE (1996). Social reactions, coping strategies, and self-blame attributions in adjustment to sexual assault. Psychology of Women Quarterly 20, 505–526.Google Scholar
Warda, G, Bryant, RA (1998). Cognitive bias in acute stress disorder. Behavior Research and Therapy 36, 1177–1183.Google Scholar
Weathers, FW, Keane, TM, Davidson, JRT (2001). Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale: a review of the first ten years of research. Depression and Anxiety 13, 132–156.Google Scholar
Wheaton, B (1985). Models for the stress-buffering functions of coping resources. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour 26, 352–364.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1997). Composite International Diagnostic Interview CIDI-Auto Version 2.1 Administrator's Guide and Reference. World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and Substance Abuse: Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Zoellner, LA, Foa, EB, Brigidi, BD (1999). Interpersonal friction and PTSD in female victims of sexual and nonsexual assault. Journal of Traumatic Stress 12, 689–700.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Nickerson supplementary material

Supplementary Table

Download Nickerson supplementary material(File)
File 22.4 KB