trauma

Maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions are considered an important factor in conceptualizing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Specifically, negative beliefs about self, the world, and self-blame regarding the traumatic event are all associated with more severe PTSD symptoms and are targets of cognitive treatments of PTSD (e.g., cognitive processing therapy). However, there may be important, related psychological constructs to consider when examining the relationship between maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD. Cognitive fusion, or the entanglement with one's thoughts such that they are interpreted literally, may be one such construct.

When cognitively fused, people have difficulty accepting and clearly perceiving their internal experiences. Following trauma, emotional non-acceptance and emotional non-clarity have been associated with post-trauma functioning. The aim of the present study was to integrate theory and research on cognitive fusion and post-trauma functioning to evaluate a theory-based model in which emotion dysregulation—specifically, emotional non-acceptance and emotional non-clarity—mediated the association between cognitive fusion and post-trauma functioning in a veteran sample. Participants were 149 veterans with a history of military-related trauma.

The current pilot study examined the acceptability, feasibility, and efficacy of a brief web-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention for the treatment of trauma-related psychological difficulties in interpersonal trauma survivors. Participants consisted of a community sample of adult women (N=25) who endorsed one or more forms of lifetime interpersonal victimization, including childhood sexual abuse, childhood physical abuse, adult sexual victimization, and intimate partner violence. All participants received the six-session web-based ACT program delivered over a period of six weeks and were assessed before and after the intervention.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is associated with functional impairment in social, occupational, and physical domains. Similar to other forms of psychopathology, research suggests the correlation between symptom severity and functional impairment is moderate and this relationship varies across studies. These findings suggest a continued need to identify variables that explain unique variance in functional outcomes over and above PTS symptomology, as well as those that moderate this association. One such variable may be valued living, a primary treatment target in contextual behavioral approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Event centrality, the extent to which one perceives a stressful or traumatic event as central to one's identity, has been shown to be one of the predictors of PTSD symptoms. Boals and Murrell (in press) found that an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-based, therapist-led treatment resulted in significant decreases in event centrality, which in turn led to decreases in PTSD symptoms. In the current study, a version of this treatment was administered using a modified expressive writing intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to learn core components about either ACT, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), or baseball (control) via audio analogs.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a popular transdiagnositic treatment approach, is based on the central tenant that human suffering develops and is exacerbated by psychological inflexibility. Cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance are two interrelated processes central to psychological inflexibility. Despite substantive theoretical rationale that these two processes impact one another’s association with emotional distress and psychopathology, the interaction between cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance in relation to psychological distress has yet to be empirically examined in the extant literature.

The relationship between cannabis use and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has received increased scientific scrutiny in recent years. Consistent with this research, studies provide evidence that many individuals with PTSD use cannabis to reduce negative affect and other unpleasant internal experiences associated with PTSD. However, no research to date has explored factors that may be associated with an increased likelihood of cannabis misuse among individuals with PTSD.