ABSTRACT
Background: The Self-Absorption Scale (SAS) is one of the few instruments that measure dysfunctional self-focused attention or self-absorption, a transdiagnostic factor of vulnerability to various emotional disorders. The internal structure of the Spanish version of the SAS and its relationship with other variables have not been examined, nor has whether its subscales provide relevant information. These were the two goals of the present study. Method: The factor structure of the SAS, its internal consistency, and its relationship with depression and post-traumatic stress were analyzed in a Spanish community sample of 519 adults. Results: The SAS presented a symmetrical bifactor structure with a general factor of self-absorption that explained most of the variance in the items and two specific factors of private and public self-absorption. The total scale and the two subscales of the SAS exhibited excellent, good or adequate reliability coefficients (alphas/omegas = .70 .88) and correlated with depression and post-traumatic stress (r = .34 .46). Conclusions: The SAS provides reliable, valid measures of dysfunctional self-focused attention in Spanish adults, but its Private and Public Self-absorption subscales are not much more useful than the information provided by its total scale.(AU)
Antecedentes: la Escala de Autoabsorción (SAS) es uno de los pocos instrumentos que mide la atención autofocalizada disfuncional o autoabsorción, un factor transdiagnóstico de vulnerabilidad a diversos trastornos emocionales. La estructura interna de la versión española de la SAS y su relación con otras variables no han sido examinadas, ni tampoco si sus subescalas aportan información relevante. Estos fueron los objetivos del presente estudio. Método: se analizó la estructura factorial de la SAS, su consistencia interna y la relación con la sintomatología depresiva y de estrés postraumático en una muestra comunitaria española de 519 adultos. Resultados: la SAS presentó una estructura bifactor simétrica con un factor general de autoabsorción que explicaba la mayoría de la varianza de los ítems y dos factores específicos de autoabsorción privada y pública. La escala total y las dos subescalas mostraron coeficientes de fiabilidad excelentes, buenos o adecuados (alfas/omegas = .70 .88) y correlacionaban con la depresión y el estrés postraumático (r = .34 .46). Conclusiones: la SAS proporciona medidas fiables y válidas de la atención autofocalizada disfuncional en adultos españoles, pero sus subescalas de autoabsorción privada y pública pueden no ser muy útiles más allá de la información proporcionada por su escala total.(AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Reproducibility of Results , Self Concept , Stress, Psychological , Depression , Attention , SpainABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: People exposed to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) may develop distinct symptom patterns, which may require different therapeutic approaches. We aimed to identify classes of people exposed to PTEs based on the presence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) clusters, anxiety, and depression and to explore which cognitive factors (rumination, worry, and negative cognitions) are associated with class membership. Latent class analyses were conducted to identify subgroups of 258 PTE-exposed Spanish adults. A three-class solution emerged: a resilient class with low odds of all symptoms ( n = 188); a partial PTSD class, characterized by partial PTSD clusters, moderate anxiety, and low depression ( n = 36); and a high symptom class, characterized by high PTSD, moderate anxiety, and low depression ( n = 34). These classes related meaningfully to rumination, worry, and negative cognitions. Distinct symptom patterns of PTSD clusters, anxiety, and depression can be distinguished in people exposed to PTEs and relate to cognitive risk factors of psychopathology.
Subject(s)
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic , Adult , Humans , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/psychology , Depression/etiology , Depression/psychology , Anxiety Disorders/complications , Anxiety/etiology , CognitionABSTRACT
Background: Scientific literature on posttraumatic growth (PTG) after terrorist attacks has primarily focused on persons who had not been directly exposed to terrorist attacks or persons who had been directly exposed to them, but who were assessed few months or years after the attacks. Methods: We examined long-term PTG in 210 adults directly exposed to terrorist attacks in Spain a mean of 29.6 years after the attacks (range: 2-47 years). The participants had been injured by a terrorist attack (38.6%) or were first-degree relatives of people who had been killed or injured by a terrorist attack (41.4% and 20%, respectively). They completed diagnostic measures of emotional disorders and measures of PTSD and depression symptomatology, optimism, and PTG. Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed gender differences (women reported higher levels of PTG than did men) and a positive linear relationship between PTG and cumulative trauma after the terrorist attack. Some PTG dimensions were significantly associated with PTSD symptomatology, these associations being linear, not curvilinear. However, PTG was not associated with depression symptomatology, diagnosis of emotional disorders, age, elapsed time since the attack, or optimism. In comparison with survivors assessed 18 years after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Spanish victims of terrorism showed higher levels of appreciation of life, but lower levels of relating to others and spiritual change. Conclusion: The findings underscore the influence of gender on PTG and provide support to the hypothesis that some emotional distress may be a necessary condition of PTG. Future studies on PTG after terrorist attacks should take into consideration the characteristics of the terrorist attack itself and the contexts of violence and threat in which it occurred. The political, social, and cultural characteristics of the community affected by it and the profile and characteristics of other traumatic events suffered after the attack should also be taken into account in further research.
