Measuring Experiential Avoidance and Posttraumatic Stress in Families.

Meaghan M Lewis,Tamara M Loverich

doi:10.3390/bs9100104

Abstract

Experiential avoidance (EA) is receiving attention as an emotion regulation strategy and critical factor in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Evidence suggests that EA explains co-varying relationships among topographically dissimilar problem behaviors. The transmission of emotion regulatory strategies is important to understanding the development of these problems. EA may be a learned response style. This conceptual framework was used to test parent EA as a predictor of young adult/older adolescent (offspring) EA, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and problem behaviors in a university context as well as to test the best predictors of these outcomes individually for parents and offspring. Two measures of experiential avoidance, the unwillingness to be in contact with distressing emotions, thoughts, and memories were used to predict the outcomes of interest. The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) was the strongest and only statistically significant predictor of PTSS and problem behaviors for parents and offspring above and beyond trauma history, while the Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (MEAQ) remained non-significant. Implications regarding measurement discrepancies, PTSS, and harmful behavior trajectories are discussed.

Highlights

Over half of the general population has experienced a potentially traumatic event (PTE) [1].the lifetime prevalence rate for incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is6.8–7.8% [1,2]
The experiential avoidance (EA) construct is a central process targeted in the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) literature [7,8], and one that seems to have an important bearing on PTSD
We evaluated for potential relationships between parent and offspring Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (MEAQ) subscale scores and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) scores at the bivariate level

Summary

Introduction

Over half of the general population has experienced a potentially traumatic event (PTE) [1].the lifetime prevalence rate for incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is6.8–7.8% [1,2]. Over half of the general population has experienced a potentially traumatic event (PTE) [1]. Due to the striking disparity between trauma exposure and PTSD development, researchers have focused on the identification of psychological and behavioral risk factors that predict. At the heart of these inquiries is the study of emotion regulation in families. Emotion regulation strategies have been found to mediate the effect of trauma exposure on PTSD [3,4,5]. Functional contextual behaviorists conceptualize avoidance, a major symptom of PTSD, as a functional class of related behaviors called experiential avoidance (EA). EA refers to the unwillingness to withstand negatively appraised private events and subsequent efforts to escape or avoid such experiences [6]. The EA construct is a central process targeted in the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) literature [7,8], and one that seems to have an important bearing on PTSD

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