Suppression of neutral and trauma targets: Implications for posttraumatic stress disorder

• Published in: Journal of traumatic stress Vol. 19; no. 4; pp. 517 - 526
• Main Authors: Amstadter, Ananda B., Vernon, Laura L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germantown Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.08.2006; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Analysis of Variance; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Cognition; Defense Mechanisms; Emotions; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Obsessive Behavior - psychology; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic syndrome; Trauma; Stress; Anxiety disorder
• ISSN: 0894-9867; 1573-6598
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.20142

Recent findings suggest that thought suppression may lead to increased intrusive thoughts for trauma survivors, paradoxically increasing symptoms. Participants with trauma history, 31 with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 34 without PTSD, engaged in neutral white bear and trauma suppression tasks. A group difference was found for the trauma task and not for the neutral task. For the trauma task, both groups demonstrated an increase of trauma thoughts during suppression, but the PTSD group continued to report trauma thoughts at a higher level than the no‐PTSD group post‐suppression. These findings suggest that it is not an individual's general suppression ability, but the content of thoughts suppressed that leads to problems with intrusions for those with PTSD.