Article archive / August 1, 2014
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 12. Source pages: 10.
Victoria Felix Trauma, PTSD, Health and Coping Dr. Boyraz, John Wits, Danita Wynes, Camille Baker
LaTech’s Victoria Felix is first author of “Trauma Exposure, PTSD, and Physical health Symptoms Among College Students: The Role of Coping,” with co-authors Dr. Boyraz, John Waits, Danita Wynes, and Camille Baker.The presentation is part of the “Mental Health and Well-Being” session on Thursday.
The researchers examined the role of approach (seeking support, religion, positive reframing, acceptance) and avoidant coping (distraction, denial, self-blame) in PTSD and physical health symptoms. The researchers analyzed data from 115 participants who reported one or more traumatic events and used multiple regression.
They found that 44.6% of the variance in PTSD symptoms was explained by coping mechanisms, with avoidant coping being a strong predictor of PTSD. In a second analysis, when controlling for PTSD symptoms, coping mechanisms did not account for variance in physical symptoms.
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