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01-02-2019 | Original Article

Assessing Trauma-Related Appraisals by Means of a Scenario-Based Approach

Authors: Marcella L. Woud, Jan C. Cwik, Rianne A. de Kleine, Simon E. Blackwell, Felix Würtz, Jürgen Margraf

Published in: Cognitive Therapy and Research | Issue 1/2019

Abstract

Dysfunctional appraisals play a key role in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The present study investigated a novel method to assess dysfunctional appraisals via an online study, in which participants (N = 93) were asked to specify a distressing, negative life event and were then presented with ambiguous, open-ended trauma-related scenarios. Participants were asked to generate an ending by writing down their first, spontaneous continuation for each scenario. Results showed that a greater number of dysfunctional appraisals generated on the scenario task was associated with higher scores on the Posttraumatic Cognition Inventory (PTCI) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). In regression analyses, scores on the scenario task were predictive of current posttraumatic stress symptoms; however, this relationship was no longer statistically significant after controlling for PTCI scores. These results contribute to the literature on dysfunctional appraisals in PTSD, supporting the validity of the scenario task and indicating its potential utility in complementing the PTCI as a measure of dysfunctional appraisal.

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The scenarios’ endings were also coded on two valence aspects, i.e., negativity (four-point Likert scale: − 3 = very negative until 0 = neutral) and positivity (four-point Likert scale: + 3 = very positive until 0 = neutral) and for complexity (1 = yes, 0 = no). However, for the purpose of the present paper we only included the first two ratings categories (i.e., whether the ending represented an appraisal and whether it was a dysfunctional appraisal).

As the calculation of G requires a 2 × 2 contingency table, the small number of endings coded as ‘missing' or ‘not codable' were ignored in this calculation.

When repeating the analyses with the consensus score of the first coding round the results remain the same.

Correlational analyses based on Pearson correlations revealed similar results.

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Title: Assessing Trauma-Related Appraisals by Means of a Scenario-Based Approach
Authors: Marcella L. Woud
Jan C. Cwik
Rianne A. de Kleine
Simon E. Blackwell
Felix Würtz
Jürgen Margraf
Publication date: 01-02-2019
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Cognitive Therapy and Research / Issue 1/2019
Print ISSN: 0147-5916
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2819
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-018-9956-z

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Springer Medicine

Assessing Trauma-Related Appraisals by Means of a Scenario-Based Approach

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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