Citation

Farnsworth JK, Sewell KW. J. Trauma. Stress 2011; 24(4): 444-450.

Affiliation

University of North Texas.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.20657

PMID

21780188

Abstract

Despite high levels of exposure to stress, questions remain regarding how social interactions and beliefs about emotion interact to influence post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in firefighters. United States urban firefighters (N = 225) completed the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, the Unsupportive Social Interactions Inventory, the Affective Control Scale, and the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist. Each independent variable predicted PTSD beyond variance accounted for by demographic variables. Additionally, fear of emotion emerged as the strongest individual predictor of PTSD and a moderator of the relation between social interactions and PTSD symptoms. These findings emphasize the importance of beliefs about emotion both in how these beliefs might influence the expression of PTSD symptoms, and in how the social networks of trauma survivors might buffer distress.

Language: en