Abstract
Emotion dysregulation theoretically and empirically explains the link between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttrauma reckless and self-destructive behaviors (RSDBs).
The current study uniquely examined the role of emotion dysregulation in the association between the four heterogeneous PTSD clusters (intrusions, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions and mood [NACM], and alterations in arousal and reactivity [AAR]) and an overall measure of posttrauma RSDBs. Trauma-exposed participants (
= 411) completed self-report measures assessing PTSD symptoms (PTSD Checklist for
-5), emotion dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-16), and engagement in RSDBs (Posttrauma Risky Behaviors Questionnaire).
Direct and indirect effects were examined using PROCESS Model 4. The bias-corrected bootstrap revealed a significant indirect effect of emotion dysregulation in posttrauma RSDBs' relation with PTSD's intrusions (
= -.13,
= .04, 95% CI [-.23, -.06]), avoidance (
=.15,
=.07, 95% CI [.04, .33]), NACM (
=.17,
=.05, 95% CI [.09, .27]), and AAR (
=.14,
=.05, 95% CI [.05, .27]).
Emotion dysregulation explained associations between the severity of each PTSD symptom cluster and overall posttrauma RSDBs. PTSD treatments targeting emotion dysregulation may help to reduce posttrauma RSDBs for trauma-exposed individuals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).