Background and objectives

Field research indicates that lower intelligence may predispose trauma-exposed individuals towards the development of re-experiencing symptoms. However, this assumption requires further testing in controlled prospective studies. In the current analog study, we tested whether lower fluid intelligence and lower working memory capacity (WMC) independently contribute to intrusion development. Moreover, we investigated potential mediating effects of trauma memory characteristics and trait rumination.

Methods

118 healthy participants completed tests measuring fluid intelligence and WMC. Two days later, they were exposed to a film clip depicting traumatic events (i.e., so-called trauma film). After exposure to the film, intrusions were assessed using a diary and an intrusion triggering task.

Results

Our analyses revealed a negative correlation between fluid intelligence and intrusions during the intrusion triggering task. WMC did not correlate with any intrusion measure. Moreover, planned analyses did not yield any mediation effects.

Limitations

We used the trauma film paradigm to examine analog posttraumatic stress symptoms. This approach limits the generalizability of our findings with regard to symptom development following real-life traumatic events.

Conclusions

Our results show for the first time that higher fluid intelligence is associated with fewer intrusions of a trauma film. This association was evident for laboratory but not for ambulatory intrusions. By demonstrating this association using a prospective experimental design, our study importantly corroborates previous field research.

中文翻译：

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智力、工作记忆容量和创伤性电影的侵入性记忆之间的前瞻性关联：沉思和记忆混乱的潜在中介作用。

背景和目标

实地研究表明，较低的智力可能会使暴露于创伤的个体更容易重新体验症状。然而，这一假设需要在受控的前瞻性研究中进一步检验。在当前的模拟研究中，我们测试了较低的流体智力和较低的工作记忆容量 (WMC) 是否独立地有助于入侵发展。此外，我们调查了创伤记忆特征和特质反刍的潜在中介作用。

方法

118 名健康参与者完成了测量流体智力和 WMC 的测试。两天后，他们接触了描述创伤事件的电影剪辑（即所谓的创伤电影）。暴露于胶片后，使用日记和入侵触发任务评估入侵。

结果

我们的分析显示，在入侵触发任务期间，流体智力与入侵之间存在负相关。WMC 与任何入侵措施无关。此外，计划分析没有产生任何中介效应。

限制

我们使用创伤电影范例来检查模拟创伤后压力症状。这种方法限制了我们在现实生活创伤事件后症状发展方面的研究结果的普遍性。

结论

我们的研究结果首次表明，较高的流体智力与较少的创伤胶片侵入相关。这种关联在实验室中很明显，但对于动态入侵则不然。通过使用前瞻性实验设计证明这种关联，我们的研究重要地证实了以前的实地研究。