When a trauma becomes a key to identity: Enhanced integration of trauma memories predicts posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms

By Dorthe Berntsen, David C. Rubin. 2007

418 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The Centrality of Event Scale (CES) measures the extent to which a traumatic memory forms a central component of personal identity, a turning point in the life story and a reference point for everyday inferences. In two studies, we show that the CES is positively correlated with severity of PTSD symptoms, even when controlling for measures of anxiety, depression, dissociation and self-consciousness. The findings contradict the widespread view that poor integration of the traumatic memory into one's life story is a main cause of PTSD symptoms. Instead, enhanced integration appears to be a key issue. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental and Educational Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b186f6ffa06a862a0e9c88ce149d6b80a4a36cbe

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Clinical Psychology

1. R. Tedeschi
2. L. Calhoun
3. A. Cann
4. S. Joseph
5. Keren Cohen
6. Katie Splevins
7. J. Bowley
8. J. Groleau

In Cognitive Neuroscience

1. A. Cann
2. S. Joseph
3. R. Tedeschi
4. L. Calhoun
5. K. Markman

In Developmental and Educational Psychology

1. A. Cann
2. R. Tedeschi
3. S. Joseph
4. L. Calhoun
5. Keren Cohen
6. Katie Splevins
7. J. Bowley
8. J. Groleau

Citations in the corpus

• What We Regret Most Are Lost Opportunities: A Theory of Regret Intensity (2009, background): “People who see the undesired outcome as highly important to the self may also have difficulty gaining closure on an undesired outcome over the longer term (Berntsen & Rubin, 2007).”
• The Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale (ISLES): Development and Initial Validation of a New Measure (2010, neutral): “Consistent with its authors’ hypothesis that overidentification with a stressful life event can place one at risk for serious adjustment problems, higher scores on the CES have been shown to be associated with greater psychological distress (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006, 2007).”
• The role of centrality of events in posttraumatic distress and posttraumatic growth. (2013, background): “As previously noted, highly stressful events that assume a central place in the individual’s life story have been shown to contribute to posttraumatic distress (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006; Berntsen & Rubin, 2007).”
• Theories of Posttraumatic Growth: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (2010, background): “These findings support the argument that a Western cultural script allows for the development of a social role of trauma survivor/victim with a focus on unique personal experience, change, and identity that is incongruent with cultural expectations of an interdependent self or social roles within a ”