Perceived resistance to experiences of trauma and crisis. A study comparing multiple life events.

Abstract

Purpose. Subjective perception is considered a key element in the prediction of resistant or vulnerable responses to trauma and crisis. This study aimed to assess the relationship between perceived physical life threat (PT) and perceived life impact (PI) with post-traumatic symptomatology (PTSD), in a sample of 3.565 persons from 12 countries across nine different traumatic events. Methods . Participants were classified into four groups of self-perceived resistance based on their levels of PT and PI. Results . Main results show Non-affected was the most frequent category in natural catastrophes (48.9%), migration (45.9%), motor vehicle accidents (39.83%), and death threats (33.4%). In the case of sexual abuse by a relative or close person (44.5%), sexual abuse by a stranger (33.9%), and having a severe, chronic, or disabling illness (47.3%), the most frequent category was Survivor . For domestic violence, the most frequent category was Vulnerable (45.5%). Resistant was never the most frequent category for any of the events studied. Although gender and lower education predicted PTSD in most events of trauma and crisis, they were a weak predictor of vulnerable versus resistance categories. Conclusion These results suggest that the Perceived Resistance Indicator can provide insights into the narratives of resistance or vulnerability associated with extreme experiences.

Causal Attributions of Happiness and Critical Events

“…As we have highlighted, extreme experiences influence individuals’ perceptions of others (Amery, 1980; Botsford et al, 2019; Breslau et al, 2004; Chapman et al, 2012; Frankl, 1959; Pérez-Sales et al, 2014; 2021). This study shows that the positive family causal attribution is reinforced by both negative and positive situations.…”

“…This is particularly important for traumatic experiences (e.g. death of a family member, natural disaster), which affect individuals’ belief systems, where views of the world and others are located (Amery, 1980; Frankl, 1959; Pérez-Sales et al, 2014). The impact of both traumatic and joyful events on one or several elements of the belief system could substantially modify an individual’s life (Pérez-Sales et al, 2012).…”

“…As mentioned, extreme situations affect individuals’ belief systems (Amery, 1980; Frankl, 1959; Pérez-Sales et al, 2014). For example, traumatic interpersonal experiences have a vital impact on survivors (Pérez-Sales et al, 2021).…”

Desarrollo y validación de contenido del Cuestionario de Exposición al Conflicto Armado (CECA)

“…Ante lo mencionado previamente, Giraldo y colaboradores (2020) adaptaron y validaron una herramienta (Pérez-Sales et al, 2014) para su aplicación al conflicto armado, al generar la Escala de Experiencias Extremas (EX 2 ) para contextos de conflicto armado, con 18 ítems y dos dimensiones: experiencias extremas directas (por ejemplo, sufrir amenazas en el marco del conflicto armado) y experiencias extremas indirectas (por ejemplo, el asesinato de un familiar en el marco del conflicto armado). Algunos estudios que usaron el instrumento han reportado su validez y han utilizado la escala para evaluar eventos de salud mental (Giraldo et al, 2020;Trujillo et al, 2021).…”