TY - JOUR PY - 2024// TI - Emotional reactivity linking assaultive trauma and risky behavior: evidence of differences between cisgender women and men JO - Journal of Traumatic Stress A1 - Stumps, Anna A1 - Bounoua, Nadia A1 - Sadeh, Naomi SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - Accumulating evidence suggests that trauma exposure is positively associated with future engagement in risky behavior, such as substance misuse, aggression, risky sex, and self-harm. However, the psychological factors driving this association and their relevance across gender groups require further clarification. In a community sample of 375 adults with a high rate of trauma exposure (age range: 18-55 years, M = 32.98 years, SD = 10.64; 76.3% assaultive trauma exposure), we examined whether emotional reactivity linked lifetime assaultive trauma exposure with past-month risky behavior. We also explored whether this model differed for cisgender women (n = 178, 47.6%) and men (n = 197, 52.5%). As hypothesized, assaultive trauma was positively related to emotional reactivity, β = .20, SE = 0.03, t(369) = 3.65, p < .001, which, in turn, partially accounted for the association between assaultive trauma and past-month risky behavior, indirect effect: β = .03, SE = 0.01, 95% bootstrapped CI [0.01, 0.06]. Gender moderated this association such that assaultive trauma was indirectly associated with risky behavior via emotional reactivity for women but not for men, index moderation: B = -0.03, SE = 0.02, 95% bootstrapped CI [-0.07, -0.01]. Cross-sectional results suggest that emotional reactivity may be a proximal target for clinical intervention to aid in the reduction of risky behavior among women.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0894-9867 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jts.23028 ID - ref1 ER -