Micro-Longitudinal Examination of Emotion Dysregulation and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms among Community Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: Modeling Reciprocal Relationships Using Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling

Research examining emotion dysregulation and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has seen tremendous growth over the past decade. However, past investigations have almost exclusively relied on cross-sectional designs and have neglected to consider the potential role of dysregulation stemming from positive emotions. The current study utilized rigorous methodology (experience sampling) and statistics (dynamic structural equation modeling) to explicate daily reciprocal associations between negative and positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms. Participants were 145 community women (M age = 40.66, 40.7% white) experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and using substances who participated in a baseline interview and then completed surveys three times a day for 30 days. Results at the between-person level showed that women who reported higher negative and positive emotion dysregulation also reported more PTSD symptoms. At the within-person level, findings supported a significant contemporaneous effect between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms. Further, there was a significant cross-lagged effect from negative emotion dysregulation to next-interval PTSD symptoms. Results suggest that positive emotion dysregulation co-occurs with PTSD symptoms and that negative emotion dysregulation predicts PTSD symptoms. Findings provide additional support for the utility of addressing both negative and positive emotion dysregulation in the treatment of PTSD among women experiencing IPV.