Citation

Fernando M, Schubert JR, Valentine LM, Koch EI, Sexton MB. Psychol. Serv. 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Educational Publishing Foundation)

DOI

10.1037/ser0000850

PMID

38573693

Abstract

Depressive symptoms are a commonly observed yet understudied mental health sequalae of military sexual trauma (MST). Prior research supports the relationship between negative posttraumatic cognitions (NPCs) and the onset and course of trauma symptoms more broadly. We hypothesized that NPCs would be associated with depression symptoms in veterans endorsing a history of MST, specifically assaultive type MST. Our clinical sample included veterans presenting for treatment related to assaultive MST (N = 158; 70.9% female, 65.2% White, 27.8% Black). Participants completed self-report measures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and NPCs during intake at a Veteran's Affairs specialty trauma clinic. Linear regressions were used to analyze the association between NPCs and depression symptoms controlling for PTSD symptom severity. PTSD severity and NPCs about the self were significantly associated with depression symptoms, explaining 46% of the variance severity, F(4, 153) = 33.16, R² =.46, p <.001. These findings newly demonstrate a relationship between NPCs about the self and depression in veterans with a history of MST. Clinicians may benefit from incorporating cognitive interventions into preexisting depression treatments to directly address NPCs in this population. Future study is needed to determine how these results may extend to other forms of MST or trauma types. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Language: en