Abstract
Difficulties in emotion regulation reportedly contribute to the development and maintenance of PTSD following exposure to natural disasters. Based on the extended process model of emotion regulation, the present study hypothesized that maladaptive emotion regulation strategies will mediate the relationship between emotional clarity and posttraumatic stress symptoms in a sample of earthquake survivors. A total of 195 adult residents of Gyeongju and Pohang, southeastern coastal cities in Korea, who had experienced recent earthquakes participated in an online survey study. They completed questionnaires assessing emotional clarity, emotion regulation, and posttraumatic stress symptoms a year and 10 months after the Gyeongju earthquake and 7 months after the Pohang earthquake. Bootstrapping procedures were used to test for a mediation effect. The results suggest that emotional clarity was indirectly associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms through maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, especially catastrophizing. The findings suggest that individuals with low emotional clarity tend to use maladaptive strategies, catastrophizing in particular, which may contribute to posttraumatic stress symptoms. This may reflect the mechanism underlying emotional clarity and offer suggestions for target of treatment in the management of long-term psychological difficulties in earthquake survivors. Replication of the current results in a sample of patients diagnosed with PTSD is necessary to better understand the development and progression of the disorder, as well as effective interventions for PTSD.
Highlights
Unprecedented earthquakes occurred between September 2016 and November 2017 in the Republic of Korea near Gyeongju and Pohang, two southeastern coastal cities in the province of Gyeongbuk that are separated by a distance of only 25 miles
Prior to the mediation analysis, independent sample t-tests and one-way analysis of variance were conducted in order to identify differences across gender and age groups in emotional clarity, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and posttraumatic stress symptoms
The present study examined the mediating effect of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies on the relationship between emotional clarity and posttraumatic stress symptoms in a sample of earthquake survivors
Summary
Unprecedented earthquakes occurred between September 2016 and November 2017 in the Republic of Korea near Gyeongju and Pohang, two southeastern coastal cities in the province of Gyeongbuk that are separated by a distance of only 25 miles. 2,498 and 9,086 cases were referred for psychotherapy in Gyeongju and Pohang, respectively, with 425 reported high-risk cases (Ministry of the Interior and Safety, 2018), suggesting the significant psychological impact of the disaster on the residents Natural disasters such as earthquakes are unpredictable, uncontrollable, and traumatic events that affect individuals in diverse and extensive ways. While most disaster survivors recover from the impact of trauma within a period ranging from several months to 1 or 2 years (Bonanno et al, 2010), some survivors may report more persistent mental health problems Among such problems, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most prevalent disorder following natural disasters (Neria et al, 2008). Because such psychological problems result in considerable social and individual cost (Trautmann et al, 2016), much effort has been dedicated to the identification of potential predictive factors of PTSD following natural disasters (Ozer et al, 2003)
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