Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in postsecondary students exposed to childhood psychological abuse: Exploring the role of negative meta-emotions

Abstract

Childhood psychological abuse (CPA) has failed to obtain substantial focus in existing literature when compared to other types of child maltreatment (CM), though those exposed are more likely to experience lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and report more severe symptoms. Far less is known regarding mechanisms predicting the maintenance and development of PTSD among young adults with CPA histories. With these factors in mind, our study examined the relationship between type of CM, negative meta-emotions (i.e., negative emotional appraisals about one's emotions; NMEs), and current PTSD symptomology among a sample of college students (N = 387). Findings from correlational and multiple regression analyses indicated that CPA was the most substantial predictor of NMEs in our sample. Further, among those exposed to CPA, NMEs explained 42.6% of the variance in present PTSD symptoms. Finally, we discuss implications for counseling practice and future research.