Narrative characteristics of genocide testimonies predict posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms years later

Psychological Trauma : Theory, Research, Practice and Policy
Lauren C NgBeth E Meyerowitz

Abstract

Cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest that trauma narratives that make greater use of somatosensory, perceptual, and negative emotion words may be indicators of greater risk of PTSD symptoms (Ehlers & Clark, 2000). The purpose of this study was to analyze whether the way that survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi naturally construct genocide testimonies predicts PTSD symptoms 6 years later. One hundred orphaned heads of household (OHH) who were members of a community association gave testimonies about their genocide experiences in 2002. In 2008, PTSD symptoms of 61 of the original OHH were assessed using a genocide-specific version of the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (Weiss & Marmar, 1997). Experienced genocide events were coded from the genocide testimonies, and the types of words used in the testimonies were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count program (Pennebaker, Chung, Ireland, Gonzales, & Booth, 2007). Pearson correlations and path analyses assessed the relationships between variables. After accounting for genocide events, touching positively predicted avoidance, and sadness negatively predicted hyperarousal. Sensory descriptions of traumatic experiences in...Continue Reading

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