Risk Factors for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: The Role of Previous Traumas, Peri-traumatic Response, Social Support and Body-image

Abstract

Objective: In a non-clinical adolescent sample, the present study investigated the predictive and the mediating effects of several rudimentary risk factors for post-traumatic stress. The study had three objectives: 1) to identify predictors of posttraumatic stress, 2) to explore the mediating effect of diverse psychosocial factors on posttraumatic stress, and 3) to explore the mediating effect of body-image on posttraumatic stress across trauma types. Method: A Danish national probability sample of 1083 high school students aged 15-20 were administered a questionnaire survey that included traumatic events, psychosocial variables and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. The current study holds the strength of a relatively large sample size and being based on a nationally representative sample, thus preventing population biased results. Data analysis has been conducted in SPSS version 22. Results: Number of traumas, peritraumatic response, loneliness, body-image and parental support predicted 26% of the variance in post-traumatic stress disorder severity. Trauma exposure was related to posttraumatic stress via intermediate factors; the number of traumas, peritraumatic response and body-image mediated development of the disorder. Body-image acted as a mediator of post-traumatic stress only with respect to certain types of trauma, with post-traumatic stress developing via body-image in physical and non-interpersonal trauma survivors, but not in survivors of sexual traumas. Conclusion: Previous traumas, peritraumatic response and body-image were found to impact the development of posttraumatic stress. The present study additionally indicated that risk factors may influence the development of posttraumatic stress disorder in different ways, following certain types of events. This underlines the importance of considering the type of trauma in combination with other potential risk factors such as body-image. Future research is needed to further investigate factors which may mediate the development of posttraumatic stress disorder, especially about different trauma types.