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Trait mindfulness, social problem-solving, and post-trauma symptoms
Thesis   Open access

Trait mindfulness, social problem-solving, and post-trauma symptoms

Louis Jones
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Jun 2019
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/5kx8-vw96
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Abstract

Mindfulness (Psychology) Post-traumatic stress disorder Psychic trauma Problem solving Clinical Psychology Psychology
A sizeable portion of the population has experienced at least one potentially traumatic event in their lifetime. In the U.S., researchers have found that 89.7% of a representative sample had experienced at least one lifetime trauma (Kilpatrick et al., 2013). While some individuals may be resilient, it is possible for one to develop post-trauma symptoms (PTS) in the wake of such events. In psychological research, as mindfulness theories have gained more attention, a significant connection between mindfulness and PTS has been observed. Mindfulness-based treatments have also amassed empirical support for successfully alleviating PTS (Vujanovic, Niles, & Abrams, 2016). Social problem-solving (SPS), a process whereby an individual identifies and overcomes barriers to goals, is a small but growing body of research concerning PTS. Lack of problem-solving construct definition consistency, mixed results of problem-solving inspired therapeutic outcomes, and a general dearth of correlational studies warrant further research investigating SPS and PTS. SPS and mindfulness share conceptual similarities, but investigating their differential associations with PTS is necessary, as both show promise in providing alternative theories relating to, and interventions for, PTSD and similar disorders. The current study recruited participants using Amazon Mechanical Turk, a crowdsourcing tool with which participants were able to remotely complete self-report measures of demographic information, the Social Problem-Solving Inventory: Revised - Short Form (SPSI:R-S), the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-15), the Life Events Checklist (LEC-5), and PTSD Checklist for the DSM-5 (PCL-5). Using data collected from these self-report measures, the current study demonstrated that scores of trait mindfulness and PTS are correlated, SPS and PTS are correlated, and trait mindfulness and SPS are correlated through Pearson product-moment correlations. The present study also utilized hierarchical regression modeling to demonstrate that trait mindfulness predicted PTS severity, SPS predicted PTS severity, and SPS adds to the predictive ability of trait mindfulness on PTS severity above what was achieved by trait mindfulness alone. Results show that trait mindfulness and social problem-solving subscales predict unique variance in PTS severity in trauma-exposed individuals. Future studies are necessary to uncover more about the relationship between specific symptom clusters of PTSD symptoms, specific social problem-solving domains, and individual facets of trait mindfulness. Results from the current study my help to contribute to developing more integrated and comprehensive intervention strategies aimed at treating individuals suffering from PTS.

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