AUTHOR=Spies Jan Peter , Cwik Jan Christopher , Willmund Gert Dieter , Knaevelsrud Christine , Schumacher Sarah , Niemeyer Helen , Engel Sinha , Küster Annika , Muschalla Beate , Köhler Kai , Weiss Deborah , Rau Heinrich 

TITLE=Associations Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Deployed Service Members of the German Armed Forces

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.576553

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2020.576553

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Experiencing a traumatic event can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but not every traumatized person develops PTSD. Several protective and risk factors have been identified in civilians and veterans to explain why some individuals develop PTSD and others do not. However, no research has confirmed the relationship between emotion regulation and PTSD in deployed German Armed Forces service members after a foreign assignment. Thus, the aim of the present study is to confirm the relationship between emotion regulation and PTSD and to test for factors that are associated with higher severity of PTSD symptoms in such a sample. A post-hoc secondary analysis was conducted on data collected in a randomized controlled trial. Participants (N = 72) were male active and former military service members that have returned from deployment and were recruited from the German Armed Forces. These participants were separated into two groups according to PTSD diagnosis based on the results of a structured diagnostic interview. Data from evaluation questionnaires administered upon entry into the study were subjected to a cross-sectional analysis. The measures included the severity of PTSD symptoms, clusters of PTSD symptoms, clinical measures, and several measures assessing PTSD-related constructs. Analyses included the Spearman rank correlation coefficient, X2 tests for nominal data, Mann-Whitney U-tests for non-parametric data, and a mediation analysis. The results of the mediation analysis revealed that difficulties in emotion regulation were significantly associated with the severity of PTSD symptoms, which was mediated by social acknowledgment and experimental avoidance but not by moral injury. The present results show that difficulties in emotion regulation are directly associated with the severity of PTSD symptoms in service members of the German Armed Forces. This association is mediated by social acknowledgment and experimental avoidance, but not by moral injury. Thus, future studies should investigate these potentially crucial factors for better understanding of the development and maintenance of PTSD in service members of the German Armed Forces after deployment to create possible treatment adaptions.