A new study shows that adolescent girls who experienced maltreatment in the past year and were willing to talk about their painful experiences and their thoughts and emotions, were less likely to have PTSD symptoms one year later. Those who tried to avoid painful thoughts and emotions were significantly more likely to exhibit PTSD symptoms down the road.
“Avoidance is something we all do,” says Chad Shenk, assistant professor of human development and family studies at Penn State. “Sometimes it is easier not to think about something. But when we rely on avoidance as a coping strategy…that is when there may be negative consequences.”
Approximately 40 percent of maltreated children develop PTSD at some point in their lives. Shenk and colleagues wanted to identify the factors that keep the remaining 60 percent from experiencing the disorder.
http://www.futurity.org/internalizing-child-abuse-may-raise-risk-ptsd/
Abstract from the journal Development and Psychopathology:A longitudinal study of several potential mediators of the relationship between child maltreatment and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms
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