Resilience Predicts Posttraumatic Cognitions After a Trauma Reminder Task and Subsequent Positive Emotion Induction Among Veterans With PTSD (vol 14, pg S101, 2022)

Clinical Impact Statement Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly prevalent and debilitating disorder for war veterans. This study uses a quasi-experimental design to help further understanding about how resilience is related to one proposed mechanism of PTSD-posttraumatic cognitions-in response to reminders of the trauma. Our findings suggest that resilience may buffer against negative trauma-related cognitions after trauma recall, though future research is needed to understand the long-term clinical utility. Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common problem for veterans. Resilience, the tendency to bounce back from difficult circumstances, is negatively associated with posttraumatic cognitions (PTCs) among individuals with a history of trauma, and it may be important to understand responses to trauma reminders. Method: Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined the association between trait resilience and state PTCs in veterans with PTSD (n = 47, M-age = 48.60, 91.8% male) at two points: following a written trauma narrative exposure (Time 1 [T1]), and following a subsequent positive distraction task (i.e., brief, positive video; Time 2 [T2]). Results: After controlling for PTSD symptom severity and combat exposure, resilience was negatively associated with PTCs at T1 (Delta R-2 = .19) and T2 (Delta R-2 = .13). However, resilience was a poor predictor of change in PTCs from T1 to T2. We also examined the relationship between resilience and subtypes of PTCs: resilience was associated with negative views of the self (T1, Delta R-2 = .24) but not negative views of the world or self-blame (T1, Delta R(2)s <= .07); these results were consistent at T2. Conclusions: Thus, resilience may attenuate negative trauma-related cognitions after trauma recall; however, this study was not designed to test causal pathways. Future research could examine whether resilience-building exercises reduce negative PTCs after trauma reminders among veterans. Additional research is needed to generalize to other trauma-exposed populations.