MALADAPTIVE COGNITIONS AND EMOTIONAL REGULATION IN PTSD

"Background: PTSD causes alterations in cognitive functioning like in emotional regulation and the production of cognitive distortions. Objective: To determine how PTSD impacts emotional regulation and the production of cognitive distortions. Method: An intergroup comparison was performed on the 180 participants divided into 3 groups. First group (n=60) was recruited from a psychotrauma center, second group (n=60) was recruited from victim support associations, and third group (n=60) was recruited from the general population. All participants completed a questionnaire validated by the ethics committee, including the PCL-5, LEC 5, CERQ, DES, and EDC-A. Results: Outcomes indicate that individuals with PTSD produce more negative cognitive distortions and use more maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Furthermore, the production of negative cognitive distortions and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies are positively correlated. This relationship maintains the severity of PTSD symptoms. Conclusion: The results confirm that the PTSD group has the most unfavorable clinical picture, which gives indications on the management to be put in place. Moreover, the presence of the intermediate group remains relevant since it allows us to identify changes in the observed alterations. It would be relevant to extend the experimental design used here to the study of traumatic events that may cause a specific type of disorder."