Do savoring beliefs predict posttraumatic stress symptoms following stressful life events?

Background and objectives: Savoring beliefs refer to people's beliefs about their ability to generate, increase, and prolong enjoyment from positive experiences. The role of these beliefs in affecting responses to negative events is largely unexplored. This study aimed to increase knowledge about the role of savoring beliefs in symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTS) following negative life events and the incremental role of these beliefs beyond the impact of worry, depressive rumination, and neuroticism.

Design: A two-wave longitudinal survey.

Methods: Two-hundred and five students completed the Savoring Beliefs Inventory, measuring one's ability to generate pleasure from past, present, and anticipated experiences at Time 1 (T1). Six months later (at T2), they rated adverse life-events experienced between T1 and T2 and completed measures of PTS (associated with the most distressing event experienced in this time-frame) and depression.

Results: Savoring beliefs at T1 were correlated with PTS total scores and PTS clusters and depression at T2. Regression analyses indicated that savoring beliefs regarding present and future (but not past) events were associated with some, but not all T2-outcomes, above and beyond worry, depressive rumination, and neuroticism.

Conclusions: This study confirms that increased savoring beliefs could mitigate the impact of confrontation with adverse events.