Understanding the interpersonal impact of trauma: Contributions of PTSD and depression
Open accessAbstract
To build on the growing literature on interpersonal relationships among individuals with PTSD, this study examined the separate influences of PTSD symptoms and depression on functioning with friends, romantic partners, and family. To examine the influence of measurement, both interviewer-rated assessment of interpersonal functioning and self-reported assessment of perceived social support were included. The sample included 109 community members who sought help for mental health problems in the aftermath of a serious motor vehicle accident. Building on previous research, hierarchical regression models were used to examine the impact of re-experiencing, avoidance, emotional numbing, and hyperarousal on relationship functioning, followed by depression. Results suggest that assessment modality makes a difference in understanding factors contributing to interpersonal strain. When assessed by an interviewer, depression seems to play a larger role in interpersonal strain, relative to PTSD symptoms. When assessed via self-reported perceived social support, weaker associations were observed, which highlighted the role of emotional numbing. Results are discussed in light of the possible role that PTSD comorbidity with depression plays in interpersonal functioning following a traumatic event, with implications for future research.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Emotional numbness in PTSD is linked to relationship strain and lower perceived social support.
“due to emotional numbness, individuals suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) often experience strains in interpersonal relationships (Ruscio et al. 2002) and perceive less social support (Beck et al. 2009).”
From Nonattachment Predicts Empathy, Rejection Sensitivity, and Symptom Reduction After a Mindfulness-Based Intervention Among Young Adults with a History of Childhood Maltreatment (2020) · cites this paper as Beck et al. 2009
Interpersonal challenges and impaired relational functioning are deficits among individuals with PTSD.
“Interpersonal challenges and impaired relational functioning are deficits among individuals with PTSD (Beck et al., 2009).”
From Augmenting Prolonged Exposure therapy for PTSD with intranasal oxytocin: a randomized, placebo-controlled pilot trial (2018) · cites this paper as Beck et al., 2009
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 44 · Cited by 129
- Authors
- Beck, J. G., Grant, D. M., Clapp, J. D., & Palyo, S. A.
- Affiliations
- University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
- Corresponding author
- Beck, J. Gayle
- Venue
- Journal of Anxiety Disorders
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-05
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 443-450
- ISSN
- 0887-6185 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2682342
- OpenAlex
- W2044146277
- Cited by
- 129
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 7.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Anxiety Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH064777, MH 075130, MH 64777, F31MH075130)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, interpersonal functioning, social support, emotional numbing, hyperarousal, avoidance, re-experiencing, PTSD-depression comorbidity, motor vehicle accidents, relationship functioning, assessment methods
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Aged, Cognition, Depressive Disorder, Family, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Life Change Events, Love, Male, Middle Aged, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Surveys and Questionnaires, Severity of Illness Index, Social Environment, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
