PTSD symptoms, emotion regulation difficulties, and family functioning among trauma-exposed college students

Abstract

The present study tested the impact of family context on psychological functioning and its mediating and moderating variables in a sample of Filipino emerging adults who have been exposed to Typhoon Haiyan. Particularly, the current study examined the moderating role of trauma type in the indirect effect family functioning (FF) on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms via emotion regulation difficulties (ERD). Trauma-exposed students (N = 324, aged 19–28 years) from various regions devastated by Typhoon Haiyan participated in this study. The mediation analyses demonstrated that out of the six aspects of ERD, nonacceptance of emotional responses (Nonacceptance) and lack of emotional clarity (Clarity) successfully mediated the association between low FF and higher PTSD scores. Subsequent moderated mediation analysis showed that Typhoon Haiyan survivors with additional exposure to interpersonal trauma showed higher levels of PTSD symptoms from the indirect impact of unhealthy family functioning via difficulties in accepting negative emotional responses. This study demonstrates the continued relationship of family functioning and psychological adjustment occurring in emerging adulthood and suggests the role of trauma type as a potential contextual factor in further understanding the relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and PTSD symptoms. Empirical contributions and clinical implications are discussed. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.