TY  - JOUR
A1  - Johanssen, Helen
A1  - Schoofs, Nikola
A1  - Kliegl, Reinhold
A1  - Bermpohl, Felix
A1  - Ülsmann, Dominik
A1  - Schulte-Herbrüggen, Olaf
A1  - Priebe, Kathlen
T1  - Negative posttraumatic cognitions color the pathway from event centrality to posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms
JF  - Cognitive therapy and research
N2  - Background
The centrality of an event indicates the extent to which it becomes a core part of identity and life story. Event centrality (EC) has been shown to have a strong relationship with PTSD symptoms, which seems to be indirectly influenced by negative posttraumatic cognitions (PTC). However, research on this potential mediation and its causal links particularly with clinical samples is limited and essential to derive treatment implications. 

Methods
Pre- and posttreatment data of 103 day-unit patients with PTSD was examined using mediation analyses and structural equation modeling.

Results
Negative PTC mediated the relationship between EC and PTSD symptoms, partially pre- and completely posttreatment. Within extended longitudinal analyses causal directions of the mediation pathways were not adequately interpretable due to unexpected suppression effects. 

Conclusions
The results suggest that EC may only have an indirect effect on PTSD symptoms through negative PTC. Thus, decreasing negative PTC which are connected to centralized events might be a key element for PTSD treatment. Thereby, transforming the cognitions' valence to more positive and constructive forms could be crucial rather than mere decentralization. Although suppression effects limited causal inferences, they do not contradict the mediation and further indicate potential interactional terms and a transformation of EC.
KW  - Event centrality
KW  - PTSD
KW  - Posttraumatic cognitions
KW  - Valence
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-021-10266-w
SN  - 0147-5916
SN  - 1573-2819
VL  - 46
IS  - 2
SP  - 333
EP  - 342
PB  - Springer Science + Business Media B.V.
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  -