The role of appraisal in the development of posttraumatic stress disorder and social anxiety disorder
Difficult life experiences affect people in different ways. How people appraise such experiences can contribute to the onset and maintenance of emotional disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We explored the association between posttraumatic appraisal processes after experiencing life and/or social threat among women with a trauma history from the SAGA cohort (n = 66). We compared a group of women who reported life threat, social threat or both types of threat in relation to their worst trauma, and had clinically significant PTSD symptoms (PTSS group), to a comparison group of women who did not meet criteria for PTSD. Results showed that the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI) distinguished between the two groups, regardless of the type of threat experienced. There were no differences in posttraumatic beliefs in relation to different types of threat, indicating that the same appraisal processes contribute to the development of PTSD regardless of the type of threat. A subgroup of individuals who suffer from both PTSD and SAD adopted posttraumatic beliefs similar to SAD core beliefs in relation to their worst trauma, indicating that PTSD and SAD are closely connected.
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