Acute Stress Reactions to Everyday Stressful Life Events Among Sexual Abuse Survivors with PTSD

• NCJ Number: 195512
• Journal: Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: 2001 Pages: 83-99
• Author(s): Cheryl Koopman; Cheryl Gore-Felton; Catherine Classen; Peea Kim; David Spiegel
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This study examined the symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) among women who had already met criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), hypothesizing that trauma symptoms would be positively related to symptoms of ASD.

Abstract

In response to a number of studies on sensitization and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a hypothesis was derived that greater Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) symptoms would be experienced among women who experienced greater trauma symptoms related to childhood sexual abuse (CSA). This study examined the extent to which everyday stressful life events and traumatic events lead to acute stress reactions in the CSA population. The study consisted of 54 women who already had PTSD for CSA and were seeking treatment. The study suggested that women survivors with PTSD and who were seeking treatment for sexual abuse could experience sensitization to relatively minor stressors, thereby reporting acute stress responses to a minor stressor. The findings were consistent with the possibility that PTSD and other trauma symptoms originating in response to CSA resulted in igniting conditions that led to overreactions to stressful life events. Longitudinal research is needed in the future in order to clarify the causal relationships between trauma symptoms and acute stress reactions. References