Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Association Between Social Support And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among Survivors Of Betrayal Trauma: A Meta-Analysis, Vanessa Tirone, Daria Orlowska, Ashton M. Lofgreen, Rebecca K. Blais, Natalie R. Stevens, Brian Klassen, Philip Held, Alyson K. Zalta

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

Background: Betrayal traumas have a particularly deleterious effect on mental health. Although social support is a robust predictor of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, it is not clear what factors may impact this relationship among betrayal trauma survivors.

Objective: This study sought to describe the association between social support and PTSD symptom severity among survivors of betrayal trauma and examine whether methodological, sample, trauma, and social support characteristics moderated this association.

Method: A comprehensive search identified 29 studies that assessed the cross-sectional association between PTSD symptom severity and social support among 6,510 adult betrayal trauma survivors.

Results: The average …

Mindfulness And Technology: Evaluating An Online Mindfulness Intervention For Symptoms Related To Sexual Assault, Erica Catherine Johnson

Dissertations

Sexual assault has been found to increase the risk of distressing psychological symptoms including PTSD, depression, somatization, drug and substance use, lower quality of life and experiential avoidance. As such, interventions for reducing the distress and negative impacts of sexual assault are of importance. Mindfulness is of particular interest as it addresses one of the prominent factors known to maintain psychological distress after trauma, experiential avoidance (Polusny et al., 2004; Merwin et al., 2009). Furthermore, an online mindfulness-based intervention can increase the accessibility and reduce the barriers to treatment. A within subjects repeated measures open clinical trial design was used …

Fat Bias And Culture Shock: Psychosocial Adjustments In Post-Obesity Life, Scott Thomas Macpherson

Masters Theses

Obesity in the United States is unprecedented levels, affecting adults and children as well. As our society has become for sedentary since industrialization, the nation has become fatter. The escalating rate of obesity has had a negative effect on the health of millions of Americans. Health problems such as metabolic disorders and other comorbidities, for instance, hypertension, Type II diabetes, heart disease, weight related cancers etc., (Mozaffarian and Benjamin 2013). The collective cost of obesity is to the nation is staggering, weighing in at $270 billion a year, childhood obesity costs nearly $15 billion alone (Hammond and Levine 2010). This …

Understanding Factors Related To Negative Mental Health Outcomes Following Childhood Unintentional Injuries, Jennifer T. Kuhn

Dissertations

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children ages 0-19 and account for 9.2 million emergency room visits in the United States each year (Borse et al., 2008). Research shows that approximately 20% of children meet criteria for PTSD following an unintentional injury (Ostrowski et al., 2011). There are several factors that may contribute to the development of PTSD including caregivers’ posttraumatic stress symptoms after the injury event. Research has not explained the association between caregivers’ PTSD and children’s risk for PTSD symptoms, but it is possible that caregivers with PTSD may be modeling anxious behaviors to their …

Experiential Avoidance Post-Trauma: Investigating Predictors Of Traumatic Stress And Problematic Behavior., Elise Trim

Honors Theses

Experiential avoidance (EA) is the unwillingness to remain in contact with distressing thoughts, feelings, memories, and other private experiences (Hayes et al., 2004; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999). Although the use of EA may lead to immediate reductions in distress, prolonged use can result in problem behaviors such as substance misuse (Hayes, Wilson, Gifford, Follette, & Strosahl, 1996). Although a strong temporal relationship has yet to be established, findings suggest a possibility that EA could be a mechanism by which posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are developed and maintained (Krause, Mendelson, & Lynch, 2003; Rosenthal, Polusny, & Follette, 2006; Dvorak, …