The role of guilt in posttraumatic stress disorder
Open accessAbstract
Background: A growing body of evidence supports the notion that the emotional profile of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may be more diverse than traditional accounts presume. PTSD’s image as an anxiety-based disorder is undergoing change as the significance of other emotions in its development becomes more evident. Experimental research is needed in order to expand the understanding of underlying processes driving the development of PTSD.Objective: Experimentally test the influence of stressor-related guilt on the occurrence of PTSD symptomatology.Method: A non-clinical student sample faced an analogue trauma, a stressor in the form of a computer crash and related loss of data. We either personally blamed participants for causing the incident (blame group) or told them that it was a technical failure and therefore not their fault (no-blame group). Levels of guilt before and after the incident as well as number and associated distress of incident-related intrusions were assessed using a one-day diary and compared between groups.Results: The guilt manipulation was successful: feelings of guilt significantly increased in the blame group but not in the no-blame group. Furthermore, the blame group showed a significantly higher number of intrusions and associated distress compared to the no-blame group at one-day follow-up.Conclusions: These laboratory findings indicate that feelings of guilt may lead to increased PTSD symptomatology, supporting the view that guilt experienced in reaction to a traumatic event may be part of a causal mechanism driving the development of PTSD.
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- Authors
- Bub, K., & Lommen, M. J. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Groningen (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Lommen, Miriam J. J.
- ORCID
- Lommen, Miriam J. J.
- Venue
- European Journal of Psychotraumatology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2017-01-01
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1407202-1407202
- ISSN
- 2000-8066 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5717716
- OpenAlex
- W2772228003
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 2.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- European Journal of Psychotraumatology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Keywords
- post-traumatic stress disorder, guilt, blame, intrusive memories, self-blame
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