Stress-Generative Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Transactional Associations Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Stressful Life Events in a Longitudinal Sample

Longitudinal studies have demonstrated transactional associations between psychopathology and stressful life events (SLEs), such that psychopathology predicts the occurrence of new SLEs, and SLEs in turn predict increasing symptom severity. The association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), specifically, and stress generation remains unclear. This study used temporally sequenced data from 116 veterans (87.9% male) to examine whether PTSD symptoms predicted new onset SLEs, and if these SLEs were associated with subsequent PTSD severity. The SLEs were objectively rated, using a clinician-administered interview and consensus-rating approach, to assess the severity, frequency, and personal dependence (i.e., if the event was due to factors that were independent of or dependent on the individual) of new-onset SLEs. A series of mediation models were tested, and results provided evidence for moderated mediation whereby baseline PTSD severity robustly predicted personally dependent SLEs, B = 0.03, p = .006, and dependent SLEs predicted increases in follow-up PTSD symptom severity, B = -0.04, p = .003, among participants with relatively lower baseline PTSD severity. After we controlled for baseline PTSD severity, personality traits marked by low constraint (i.e., high impulsivity) were also associated with an increased number of dependent SLEs. Our results provide evidence for a stress-generative role of PTSD and highlight the importance of developing interventions aimed at reducing the occurrence of personally dependent stressors.