Differential predictors of transient stress versus posttraumatic stress disorder: evaluating risk following targeted mass violence.

Differential predictors of transient stress versus posttraumatic stress disorder: evaluating risk following targeted mass violence. Behav Ther. 2014 Nov;45(6):791-805 Authors: Miron LR, Orcutt HK, Kumpula MJ Abstract Schools have become a common incident site for targeted mass violence, including mass shootings. Although exposure to mass violence can result in significant distress, most individuals are able to fully recover over time, while a minority develop more pervasive pathology, such as PTSD. The present study investigated how several pre- and posttrauma factors predict posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in both the acute and distal aftermath of a campus mass shooting using a sample with known levels of pretrauma functioning (N=573). Although the largest proportion of participants evidenced resilience following exposure to the event (46.1%), many reported high rates of PTSS shortly after the shooting (42.1%) and a smaller proportion (11.9%) met criteria for probable PTSD both in the acute and more distal aftermath of the event. While several preshooting factors predicted heightened PTSS after the shooting, prior trauma exposure was the only preshooting variable shown to significantly differentiate between those who experienced transient versus prolonged distress. Among postshooting predictors, individuals reporting greater emotion dysregulation and peritraumatic dissociative experiences were over four times more likely to hav...
Source: Behavior Therapy - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Behav Ther Source Type: research