Type of Traumatic Events, Mental Health Problems, and Posttraumatic Cognitions Among Eastern Anatolian Women.
A Ufuk SezginRaija-Leena PunamakiPublished in: Journal of interpersonal violence (2019)
Both severity and type of trauma play a role in mental health consequences. Interpersonal trauma, especially sexual abuse and intentional assaultive violence, form a risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, few studies have factually compared the impact of trauma types on mental health. This study examined whether interpersonal violence (IPV), natural disasters and accidents (NDA), and life-threat and war (LTW) are differently associated with mental health problems among women. It further examined the mediating role of posttraumatic cognitions (PTCs) among the abovementioned three types of traumatic events and mental health problems. The participants were 1,569 Eastern Anatolian women (16-72 years of age). Traumatic events were assessed with the Life Events Checklist (LEC), mental health with the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) diagnostic criteria for PTSD, psychiatric distress symptoms with the GHQ-28 (General Health Questionnaire) scales, and PTCs with the self-related and other-related scales of the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI). As hypothesized, IPV was more significantly associated with PTSD, anxiety, and somatization symptoms than with NDA. The LTW was significantly associated with all symptoms. Both self-related and other-related PTCs partially mediated the association of both IPV and NDA with mental health problems. The findings are discussed from the perspectives of women and human rights, emphasizing also the importance of cognitive processing of traumatic experiences in enhancing good mental health.
Keyphrases
- mental health
- posttraumatic stress disorder
- mental illness
- spinal cord injury
- polycystic ovary syndrome
- emergency department
- pregnancy outcomes
- south africa
- type diabetes
- pregnant women
- healthcare
- adipose tissue
- intimate partner violence
- metabolic syndrome
- risk assessment
- cross sectional
- insulin resistance
- physical activity
- cervical cancer screening
- social media
- drug induced
- human health