Exploring Negative Emotion in Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: Shame, Guilt, and PTSD

Beck, J. Gayle; McNiff, Judiann; Clapp, Joshua D.; Olsen, Shira A.; Avery, Megan L.; Hagewood, J. Houston

doi:10.1016/j.beth.2011.04.001

Cited by 183 publications

(158 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Using a self-report measure, Henning and Frueh (1997) found severity of combat-related guilt in veterans to be positively correlated with re-experiencing and avoidance symptoms of PTSD, as well as with a general measure of PTSD severity. Another study by Beck et al (2011) found guilt-related distress and cognitions to be positively associated with PTSD severity in a cross-sectional study with women experiencing intimate partner violence. Despite sound evidence for a guilt-PTSD link, the exact nature of the relationship remains evasive and in pressing need of further clarification.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

The role of guilt in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Bub

Lommen

2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: A growing body of evidence supports the notion that the emotional profile of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may be more diverse than traditional accounts presume. PTSD’s image as an anxiety-based disorder is undergoing change as the significance of other emotions in its development becomes more evident. Experimental research is needed in order to expand the understanding of underlying processes driving the development of PTSD. Objective: Experimentally test the influence of stressor-related guilt on the occurrence of PTSD symptomatology. Method: A non-clinical student sample faced an analogue trauma, a stressor in the form of a computer crash and related loss of data. We either personally blamed participants for causing the incident (blame group) or told them that it was a technical failure and therefore not their fault (no-blame group). Levels of guilt before and after the incident as well as number and associated distress of incident-related intrusions were assessed using a one-day diary and compared between groups. Results: The guilt manipulation was successful: feelings of guilt significantly increased in the blame group but not in the no-blame group. Furthermore, the blame group showed a significantly higher number of intrusions and associated distress compared to the no-blame group at one-day follow-up. Conclusions: These laboratory findings indicate that feelings of guilt may lead to increased PTSD symptomatology, supporting the view that guilt experienced in reaction to a traumatic event may be part of a causal mechanism driving the development of PTSD.

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confidence: 95%

The role of guilt in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Bub

Lommen

2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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“…One possible pathway is the shame that may accompany victimization. Several empirical studies support that shame is a common response to interpersonal violence and to such highly stigmatized phenomena as sexual abuse (Amstadter & Vernon, 2008), and that shame is related to mental health (Aakvaag et al, 2016; Andrews, Brewin, Rose, Kirk, & Strauss, 2000; Beck et al, 2011; La Bash & Papa, 2014). The negative thoughts and feelings about the self (shame) that may follow a traumatic experience are also included in the symptom criterion for the PTSD diagnosis in the fifth edition of the DSM (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mediating role of shame in the relationship between childhood bullying victimization and adult psychosocial adjustment

Strøm

Aakvaag

Birkeland

et al. 2018

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: Psychological distress following experiencing bullying victimization in childhood has been well documented. Less is known about the impact of bullying victimization on psychosocial adjustment problems in young adulthood and about potential pathways, such as shame. Moreover, bullying victimization is often studied in isolation from other forms of victimization. Objective: This study investigated (1) whether childhood experiences of bullying victimization and violence were associated with psychosocial adjustment (distress, impaired functioning, social support barriers) in young adulthood; (2) the unique effect of bullying victimization on psychosocial adjustment; and (3) whether shame mediated the relationship between bullying victimization and these outcomes in young adulthood. Method: The sample included 681 respondents (aged 19–37 years) from a follow-up study (2017) conducted via phone interviews derived from a community telephone survey collected in 2013. Results: The regression analyses showed that both bullying victimization and severe violence were significantly and independently associated with psychological distress, impaired functioning, and increased barriers to social support in young adulthood. Moreover, causal mediation analyses indicated that when childhood physical violence, sexual abuse, and sociodemographic factors were controlled, shame mediated 70% of the association between bullying victimization and psychological distress, 55% of the association between bullying victimization and impaired functioning, and 40% of the association between bullying victimization and social support barriers. Conclusions: Our findings support the growing literature acknowledging bullying victimization as a trauma with severe and long-lasting consequences and indicate that shame may be an important pathway to continue to explore. The unique effect of bullying victimization, over and above the effect of violence, supports the call to integrate the two research fields.

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“…Importantly, research suggests that shame is a trans-diagnostic moderator of the association between stressors and psychological difficulties (Harper and Arias, 2004;Beck et al, 2011;Shorey et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A power calculation was conducted using G*Power 3 software (Faul et al, 2007), which estimated the necessary for a linear multiple regression with five predictors (depression, anxiety, stressful life events, shame, and the shame * stressful life event interaction) where two predictors were being tested (shame and the shame*stressful life event interaction) with a medium-to-large effect size (f = 0.25). As this is the first study looking at shame in relation to paranoia in a clinical sample, and the first study to investigate these subtypes of shame in relation to paranoia, the expectation of a mediumto-large effect size was based on evidence of strong and consistent associations between i) shame and paranoia in non-clinical groups (e.g., Matos et al, 2012), and ii) shame and Shame amplifies the impact of life stress upon paranoia symptoms of other psychological disorders in clinical groups (e.g., Beck et al, 2011). This analysis suggested that a total sample of size of 54 would be sufficient to detect this effect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shame amplifies the association between stressful life events and paranoia amongst young adults using mental health services: Implications for understanding risk and psychological resilience

Johnson¹,

Jones²,

Lin³

et al. 2014

Psychiatry Research

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Shame is associated with a range of psychological disorders, and is a trans-diagnostic moderator of the association between stressors and symptoms of disorder. However, research has yet to investigate shame in relation to specific psychotic symptoms in clinical groups. In order to address this, the present study investigated shame in young adults with mental health problems, to test whether shame was i) directly associated with paranoia, a prevalent psychotic symptom, and ii) a moderator of the association between stress and paranoia . Sixty participants completed measures of stressful events, paranoia, shame, depression and anxiety.Results from a cross-sectional regression analysis suggested that shame was associated with paranoia after the stressful life event measure was entered into the model, and shame moderated the association between stress and paranoia. For individuals scoring high on shame, shame amplified the association between stress and paranoia, but for low-shame individuals, the association between stress and paranoia was non-significant. These findings suggest that high levels of shame could confer vulnerability for paranoia amongst clinical groups, and that resistance to experiencing shame could be a marker of resilience.

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Exploring Negative Emotion in Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: Shame, Guilt, and PTSD

Cited by 183 publications

References 36 publications

The role of guilt in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

The role of guilt in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

The mediating role of shame in the relationship between childhood bullying victimization and adult psychosocial adjustment

Shame amplifies the association between stressful life events and paranoia amongst young adults using mental health services: Implications for understanding risk and psychological resilience

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