Member-only story
4 Protective Factors Lower PTSD Risk and Bolster Resilience
A new metaanalysis highlights practical approaches to overcome trauma.
PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) statistic vary depending on source, but while up the majority of people experience at least one traumatic event over the course of a lifetime, only a fraction develop PTSD, between 6–8%.
PTSD has many risk and protective factors. Risks include younger age, female gender, being hurt or seeing someone get hurt, having higher stress living conditions on top of the trauma, and a prior history of mental illness or substance use disorder.
Protective factors include getting support from others, positive self-appraisal in dealing with the trauma, adaptive coping strategies, having a strong system of meaning and/or faith, and biological factors. While there has been a significant amount of research on resilience and posttraumatic growth, synthesis of research is needed to confirm the highest-value targets for prevention, preparedness and intervention. Resources are scare, and trauma uses them up fast, on every level from individual to community.
Hope, Optimism and Self-Efficacy
In the Journal of Clinical Psychology (2020), authors Gallagher, Long and Phillips consolidate and…
