ABSTRACT

Approximately 56 to 84% of college students report having experienced at least one lifetime traumatic or adverse life event. However, little is known about trauma exposure among Latina college students and the association of cognitive vulnerabilities to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms among this population. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to: (a) explore the traumatic events experienced by 436 Latina college women, and (b) examine the unique contribution of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and its two subscales (prospective and inhibitory IU) to PTSD-5 symptom severity among the 263 (76%) trauma-exposed Latina college women in the sample. Most frequently reported trauma events included interpersonal bullying and ridicule, attempted sexual assault, traumatic bereavement, and life-threatening accident or natural disaster. As expected, when controlling for college stress and anxiety sensitivity: (a) IU scores were associated with overall PTSD symptom severity and with two of the four PTSD-5 cluster symptoms, arousal/reactivity, and negative alteration in cognition/mood, and (b) IU was not associated with the PTSD-5 intrusion cluster symptoms’ severity. Inconsistent with expectations, IU was not uniquely associated with the avoidance of PTSD-5 cluster symptoms. Paralysis in the face of uncertainty (inhibitory IU) was more strongly related to PTSD symptom severity than concerns regarding anticipated uncertainty (prospective IU). Results suggest that IU is a transdiagnostic cognitive vulnerability that plays a unique role in relation to PTSD symptom severity among trauma exposed Latina college women. Therefore, interventions to ameliorate IU could complement established psychological and pharmacological PTSD treatments with this population.

摘要

大约 56% 到 84% 的大学生报告说他们一生中至少经历过一次创伤或不良生活事件。然而，人们对拉丁裔大学生的创伤暴露以及认知脆弱性与该人群中的创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 症状的关联知之甚少。因此，该研究的目的是：(a) 探索 436 名拉丁大学女性所经历的创伤事件，以及 (b) 检查不确定性不耐受 (IU) 及其两个子量表（前瞻性和抑制性 IU）对样本中 263 名 (76%) 遭受创伤的拉丁裔大学女性中的 PTSD-5 症状严重程度。最常报告的创伤事件包括人际欺凌和嘲笑、性侵犯未遂、创伤性丧亲以及危及生命的事故或自然灾害。正如预期的那样，在控制大学压力和焦虑敏感性时：（a）IU 分数与整体 PTSD 症状严重程度以及四种 PTSD-5 集群症状中的两种、唤醒/反应性和认知/情绪的负面改变相关，以及（ b) IU 与 PTSD-5 入侵集群症状的严重程度无关。与预期不一致的是，IU 并不是唯一与避免 PTSD-5 丛集症状相关。面对不确定性（抑制性 IU）时的瘫痪与 PTSD 症状严重程度的相关性比对预期不确定性（前瞻性 IU）的担忧更强烈。结果表明，IU 是一种跨诊断的认知脆弱性，在遭受创伤的拉丁裔大学女性的 PTSD 症状严重程度方面起着独特的作用。所以，