Public beliefs about trauma and its consequences: Profiles and correlates of stigma.

Public stereotypes about trauma exposure and its likely consequences have the potential to influence levels of support extended to survivors in the larger community. The current project sought to examine unique profiles of stereotype endorsement both within and across participants sampled from distinct populations. Trauma-related stereotypes involving symptom course, dangerousness, employability, social functioning, predictability, character, and treatment need were examined in undergraduate (N 1 = 404; N 2 = 502) and MTurk (N 3 = 364) samples. Sympathizing [low overall endorsement], Fearful [high overall endorsement], Pejorative [high endorsement + moralizing beliefs], Safety-Focused [intermediate endorsement + dangerousness], and Performance-Focused [intermediate endorsement + employability] groups were replicated in latent profile models across all samples. Stereotype profiles demonstrated hypothesized associations with general perspectives of mental illness although support for consistent relations with respondent characteristics (e.g., sex; personal exposure to trauma; reported exposure in friends/family) was limited. Data suggest that trauma stereotypes are endorsed at high frequencies in the general community and conform to systematic patterns of prejudice that may be overlooked in more global assessments of stigma.

Interpersonal Functioning and Trauma: The Role of Empathy in Moderating the Association of PTSD and Interpersonal Functioning.

Research demonstrates consistent associations between symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and reductions in interpersonal functioning. Moderators of this association, however, remain relatively unexplored. The current study aimed to examine the extent to which aspects of empathic responding may influence the relation between PTSD symptom dimensions and interpersonal functioning in students exposed to significant trauma. Participants (N = 94, 85.1% female, 86.2% White/Non-Hispanic) completed an initial screening to assess for trauma exposure and associated symptoms of PTSD. Interpersonal functioning and dimensions of empathic responding were measured using a series of self-report and lab-based tasks. Hierarchical regression models provided evidence for a consistent association between post-trauma arousal-reactivity and reductions in interpersonal functioning. Results also indicated a moderating effect of affective empathy (ß = -.37, p = .010, f2 = .086). Simple slopes and Johnson-Neyman plots identified an association between arousal-reactivity and functioning at low (ß = 1.57, p < .001, f2 = .301) versus high (ß = .31, p = .417, f2 = .008) levels of empathic response to a positively valenced film. Results offer preliminary support for a potential buffering effect of affective empathy on interpersonal functioning in individuals reporting chronic, trauma-related symptoms.