Disengagement coping as a mediator between trauma-related guilt and PTSD severity

Abstract

This study examined disengagement coping as a partial mediator between trauma-related guilt and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a sample of veterans (N = 175) entering residential PTSD treatment with either PTSD or subthreshold PTSD. Disengagement coping partially mediated the relationship between guilt and self-reported PTSD severity (b = .07; 95% CI = [-.003, .13]; p = .06), but did not mediate the relationship when PTSD severity was based on clinicians' ratings. These findings bolster Street, Gibson, and Holohan's (2005) contention that higher guilt-related cognitions are related to increases in the use of disengagement coping strategies, which can interfere with PTSD recovery. The findings support the importance of PTSD treatments that target reductions in guilt-related cognitions and disengagement coping strategies.