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. 2019 Mar;75(3):392-403.
doi: 10.1002/jclp.22655. Epub 2018 Jun 22.

From child maltreatment to ICD-11 complex post-traumatic stress symptoms: The role of emotion regulation and re-victimisation

Matthias Knefel  1 , Brigitte Lueger-Schuster  1 , Thanos Karatzias  2   3 , Mark Shevlin  4 , Phil Hyland  5
Affiliations

From child maltreatment to ICD-11 complex post-traumatic stress symptoms: The role of emotion regulation and re-victimisation

Matthias Knefel et al. J Clin Psychol. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) will be introduced in ICD-11 and comprises symptoms of PTSD and disturbances in self-organisation (DSO). The association of trauma with PTSD and DSO is not yet fully understood. We investigated the path from child maltreatment to PTSD and DSO and examined the mediating role of emotion regulation (ER) and adult interpersonal re-victimisation.

Method: Adult patients (N = 193) from a Scottish National Health Service clinic participated in the project. Participants completed measures of life events, ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD, and ER. Path analysis was used to assess possible direct and indirect effects from childhood trauma on current post-traumatic psychopathology.

Results: Overall results indicate that the path from child maltreatment to PTSD is a direct one, while the path to DSO is indirectly mediated by ER.

Conclusions: Future research should address the potentially beneficial effect of treatment protocols for CPTSD explicitly aiming at reducing ER difficulties.

Keywords: ICD-11; child maltreatment; complex PTSD; emotion regulation; path analysis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Path model from child maltreatment to post‐traumatic psychopathology via emotion regulation difficulties and re‐victimisation Notes. Positive significant associations are printed as solid bold line, negative significant associations are printed as dashed bold line.
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