Citation

Merckelbach H, Muris P, Horselenberg R, Rassin E. Behav. Res. Ther. 1998; 36(11): 1075-1079.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands. H.Merckelbach@Psychology.Unimaas.nl

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9737059

Abstract

While some clinicians assume that traumatic intrusions are historically accurate revisualizations of traumatic incidents, others have suggested that these types of intrusions may represent a worse case scenario (i.e. exaggerated) version of the trauma. To explore this issue, a survey was conducted among undergraduate students (N = 189). Of the 69 respondents who had been the victim of or witness to a relatively recent trauma, 15 (22%) reported an exaggerated perception of the traumatic incident. Exaggerated intrusions were found to have more flashback qualities and tended to have a higher frequency than 'realistic' intrusions. These findings are well in line with the idea that intrusions are not necessarily veridical copies of traumatic events.

Language: en