Coping and Personality as Predictors of Post-Traumatic Intrusions, Numbing, Avoidance and General Distress: A Study of Victims of the Perth Flood

Abstract

Trauma symptoms, coping and personality were assessed in 44 victims of the Perth flood. The sample was characterized by high levels of intrusions, numbness, arousal and general emotional distress. General levels of symptomatology were predicted by two coping strategies: emotion-focused coping and thought suppression. Overall trauma symptoms and emotion-focused coping were associated with the personality trait of neuroticism. These data are consistent with the Wells and Matthews (1994a) model of affective disorders and stress. The model proposes that certain types of emotion-focused coping tend to lead to greater access to negative self-beliefs, and that thought suppression tends to prime subsequent intruding thoughts. A second personality trait, private self-consciousness, was associated with relatively greater levels of numbing symptoms, and relatively lower levels of arousal symptoms. This patterning of symptoms may result from use of ruminative coping strategies. Hence, intrusions of trauma-related material are not simply a function of automatic activation of a fear network, but are also influenced by the person's voluntary efforts to deal with the aftermath of the event.