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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: This study examined trauma frequency, alcohol use, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as predictors of emotion regulation (ER) difficulties among post-9/11 Veterans.
METHOD: Seventy-four Veterans (95.5% male; mean age = 40; 45.9% Caucasian) completed questionnaires on demographics, PTSD symptoms, ER, trauma frequency, and drinking.
RESULTS: Positive correlations were observed between PTSD symptom severity and ER difficulties (r =.6, p <.001) and drinking behavior and emotion dysregulation (r =.25, p <.05). PTSD symptoms above the clinical cutoff resulted in significantly higher ER difficulties than subclinical symptoms, t(66) = -2.975, p <.01). Linear regressions revealed that PTSD accounted for 37% of the variance in ER difficulties, F(1, 66) = 37.34, p <.05. Cluster C was the only significant predictor of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) total scores (B = 1.40, p <.05). Regression analyses on DERS subscales were also examined. Both PTSD Checklist-Specific (PCL-S) total and Cluster C significantly predicted the subscales of nonacceptance (PCL-S total, B =.30, p <.001; Cluster C, B =.45, p <.05) and clarity (PCL-S total, B =.12, p <.05; Cluster C, B =.31, p <.05). PCL-S total predicted strategies (PCL-S total, B =.43, p <.01). PCL-S total was the only significant predictor of the DERS subscales of goals (B =.21, p <.001) and impulse (B =.27, p <.001). There were no significant predictors for the subscale of awareness.
CONCLUSION: The findings will aid the development of targeted intervention strategies in Veterans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Language: en |