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Cognitive fusion occurs when people experience their thoughts as literally true and allow them to dictate behavior. Fusion has been shown to be associated with increased symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression; however, the association between change in cognitive fusion, PTSD, and depression symptoms has been relatively uninvestigated. Our study aims to examine the associations between PTSD, depression symptoms, and cognitive fusion in Canadian veterans from pre- to post-treatment. Clients (N = 287) completed measures of PTSD symptom severity, depression symptom severity, and cognitive fusion at pre- and post-treatment. Our results supported that pretreatment PTSD and depression symptom severity were found to be negatively associated with changes in pre- to post-treatment cognitive fusion, while pretreatment cognitive fusion was not associated with changes in depression or PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, pretreatment depression symptoms predicted pre- to post-treatment changes in PTSD symptoms. However, pretreatment PTSD symptoms did not predict changes in depression symptoms. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the bidirectional associations between PTSD, depression, and cognitive fusion. Furthermore, our results are indicative of PTSD and depression symptoms playing a role in the change in cognitive fusion (e.g., defusion) and of depression playing a larger role in the maintenance of PTSD symptoms. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maladaptive schemas have been linked with increased posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Posttraumatic negative self-appraisals (i.e., posttraumatic shame and self-blame) have also been empirically supported as contributors to PTSD symptom severity following traumatic events. These associations are well known; however, the pathways between maladaptive schemas and PTSD symptoms remain largely unclear. The present study aimed to examine the mediating effects of posttraumatic negative self-appraisals (shame and self-blame) on the association between maladaptive schemas and PTSD symptom severity in patients completing a partial hospitalization program. Patients (N = 98) completed measures of early maladaptive schemas, posttraumatic shame, posttraumatic self-blame, and PTSD symptom severity at intake. Posttraumatic negative self-appraisals mediated the association between maladaptive schemas and PTSD symptom severity. When we examined the specific mediating effects of shame and blame – rather than negative self-appraisals overall – shame was a significant mediator (b =.153, 95% CI [.031,.296]), but not blame (b =.038, 95% CI [−.083,.204]). Further, posttraumatic shame mediated the association between two of the four schema domains – disconnection & rejection (b =.092, 95% CI [.030,.201]) and impaired autonomy & performance (b =.047, 95% CI [.002,.124]) – and PTSD symptom severity. These findings highlight the importance of posttraumatic shame in the association between maladaptive schemas and PTSD symptom severity. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is ample evidence that endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology may negatively affect veteran men's military to civilian transition, it remains unclear which specific facets of traditional masculinity are most likely to impede successful transition to civilian life. To better understand the association between traditional masculinity ideology and veteran transition, this study sought to examine the relationship between five facets of traditional masculinity ideology (restrictive emotionality, avoidance of femininity, toughness, dominance, and self-reliance) and four factors associated with difficult veteran transition (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depression, perceived social support, and alcohol-related problems) in (N = 289) veteran men. Results indicate that restrictive emotionality was the most significant contributing facet of traditional masculinity ideology to PTSD, depression, and perceived social support, whereas avoidance of femininity was the masculinity facet most significantly associated with alcohol-related problems. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Veteran men have high rates of adherence to traditional masculinity ideology, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and romantic relationship dissatisfaction. However, there is a paucity of studies investigating how these constructs relate to one another in veteran men. We examined the relation between masculinity ideology and relationship satisfaction and the extent to which this relation was mediated by PTSD symptoms. Next, we tested this mediating effect with traditional male role norms hypothesized to inhibit cognitive-emotional processing of traumatic events (i.e., self-reliance, toughness, dominance, restrictive emotionality) and male role norms with no hypothesized relation with cognitiveemotional processing (i.e., avoidance of femininity, importance of sex, negativity toward sexual minorities). Participants were veteran men with a history of military-related trauma who were in a romantic relationship at the time of study participation (N = 76). Veterans completed measures of traditional masculinity ideology endorsement, PTSD symptoms, and relationship satisfaction. Findings indicated that PTSD partially mediated the association between endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology and relationship functioning in veterans. These findings can be used to inform PTSD interventions with veteran men and their romantic partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotion dysregulation has been associated with impaired interpersonal functioning and increased risk of posttraumatic psychopathology. Given that social support is a robust predictor of psychiatric morbidity following trauma exposure, we examined whether emotion dysregulation was associated with posttraumatic psychopathology through its negative effect on social support. Using self-report data from 90 military veterans (89.9% men) enrolled in an outpatient psychotherapy program for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we found that social support partially mediated the effect of emotion dysregulation on PTSD (PM = .10) and depression symptoms (PM = .14). When source of support was considered, friend (PM = .08) and significant other support (PM = .06) were greater mediators of the effect of emotion dysregulation on depression symptoms than family support (PM = .01). There were no differential mediating effects for support providers on PTSD symptoms. Our findings indicate that social support is a statistically significant yet clinically limited mechanism through which emotion dysregulation is linked with psychiatric symptoms. Implications for these limitations and alternative potentially relevant interpersonal mechanisms are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most potent protective factors against psychiatric symptoms after military trauma is perceived social support. Although group psychotherapy has been linked with increasing social support, no research has evaluated which therapeutic mechanisms are associated with this increase beyond symptom reduction. We investigated which interpersonal therapeutic factors were related to changes in social support, beyond posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom reduction. Participants were 117 veterans in a multimodal outpatient group psychotherapy treatment designed to reduce PTSD symptoms and interpersonal difficulties. Generally, therapeutic factors were related to improvements in social support from baseline to posttreatment beyond the effects of PTSD symptom reduction. Specifically, social learning was associated with changes in appraisal support, secure emotional expression was associated with changes in tangible support, and neither was associated with changes in belonging support. Depending on the goals of treatment, understanding these variations are important so clinicians and researchers can appropriately design and target their interventions to facilitate desired changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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