Abstract The association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and counterfactual comparisons (CFC) is poorly understood and CFC-measures are missing. We developed and applied the Posttraumatic Counterfactual Comparisons Scale (P-CFC-S), which measures frequency, intensity and affective impact of trauma-related CFC. We further measured trauma history, PTSD symptoms, probable PTSD diagnosis, posttraumatic cognitions, satisfaction with life and basic sociodemographic information. The sample consisted of 556 adults (62.95% female) who had all experienced at least one potentially traumatic event and of whom 15.29% fulfilled a probable PTSD diagnosis. The P-CFC-S yielded adequate internal consistency and a one-factor structure in the explorative factor analysis. CFC were common, and about two-fold more common in individuals with probable PTSD compared to those without. In hierarchical regression analyses, the frequency and intensity in CFC explained a significant amount of variance in PTSD symptoms when potentially confounding variables (i.e. age, gender, posttraumatic cognitions and counterfactual thinking) were accounted for. Our findings suggest that CFC may be an active ingredient in PTSD maintenance. Longitudinal research is needed to examine the dynamics between CFC and PTSD and the hypothesis that CFC is related to cognitive avoidance and/or maladaptive appraisals of trauma meaning.

摘要 创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 与反事实比较 (CFC) 之间的关联知之甚少，并且缺少 CFC 措施。我们开发并应用了创伤后反事实比较量表 (P-CFC-S)，它测量创伤相关 CFC 的频率、强度和情感影响。我们进一步测量了创伤史、PTSD 症状、可能的 PTSD 诊断、创伤后认知、对生活的满意度和基本的社会人口学信息。样本由 556 名成年人（62.95% 为女性）组成，他们都经历过至少一次潜在的创伤事件，其中 15.29% 的人符合可能的 PTSD 诊断。P-CFC-S 在探索性因素分析中产生了足够的内部一致性和单因素结构。CFC 很常见，与没有患 PTSD 的人相比，可能患有 PTSD 的人的发病率高出两倍。在分层回归分析中，当考虑到潜在的混杂变量（即年龄、性别、创伤后认知和反事实思维）时，CFC 的频率和强度解释了 PTSD 症状的显着差异。我们的研究结果表明，CFC 可能是 PTSD 维持的活性成分。需要纵向研究来检查 CFC 和 PTSD 之间的动态关系，以及 CFC 与认知回避和/或对创伤意义的适应不良评估有关的假设。创伤后认知和反事实思维）被考虑在内。我们的研究结果表明，CFC 可能是 PTSD 维持的活性成分。需要纵向研究来检查 CFC 和 PTSD 之间的动态关系，以及 CFC 与认知回避和/或对创伤意义的适应不良评估有关的假设。创伤后认知和反事实思维）被考虑在内。我们的研究结果表明，CFC 可能是 PTSD 维持的活性成分。需要纵向研究来检查 CFC 和 PTSD 之间的动态关系，以及 CFC 与认知回避和/或对创伤意义的适应不良评估有关的假设。