Intolerance of uncertainty predicts analogue posttraumatic stress following adverse life events

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is evidence that intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is associated with elevated post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. There is a scarcity of research examining whether IU is prospectively related to PTS following exposure to negative life events. Using data from a Dutch student-sample, we examined the degree to which IU predicts post-traumatic stress symptoms associated with negative stressful life events (analogue posttraumatic stress (PTS)).

DESIGN: This was a prospective survey-study.

METHODS: A group of 193 undergraduate students completed self-report measures of Inhibitory IU, Prospective IU, and anxiety sensitivity (at Time 1, T1). One year later (at T2), participants rated adverse life-events experienced between T1 and T2, and completed a questionnaire tapping PTS associated with the most distressing event experienced in this time-frame. We hypothesized that pre-event Inhibitory IU and—to a lesser extent—Prospective IU would predict analogue PTS, after covarying for anxiety sensitivity.

RESULTS: As predicted, pre-event Inhibitory IU predicted post-event analogue PTS, even when controlling for anxiety sensitivity. With respect to distinct analogue PTS clusters, Inhibitory IU predicted PTS avoidance and PTS hyperarousal, but was unrelated to PTS reexperiencing.

CONCLUSIONS: This study confirm that IU, particularly Inhibitory IU, may convey risk for elevated PTS following adverse life events.

KEYWORDS:

• Intolerance of uncertainty
• negative life-events
• PTSD
• risk-factor

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Paul A. Boelen http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4125-4739

Notes

1 To explore whether gender affected outcomes, we performed all regression analyses again, controlling for gender; outcomes were similar to the ones without gender as a control variable. Outcomes were also similar when the small group of men was excluded from the analyses. In both additional rounds of analyses, the same variables emerged as significant predictors in the models.

2 In a prior study based on the current data (Boelen & Lenferink, 2018), trait mindfulness—tapped using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003)—predicted levels of PTS. Although the current study was designed to expand Oglesby et al.’s study (2018) and, therefore, focused on IU, we explored whether the outcomes of the current regression analyses changed when trait mindfulness was controlled. This was not the case: Inhibitory IU continued to predict analogue total PTS, reexperiencing, and hyperarousal when controlling MAAS-scores.

3 For exploratory reasons, we examined if outcomes of these regressions changed considerably when anxiety sensitivity was not included as a covariate. This was not the case. Four significant regression equations emerged with Inhibitory IU but not Prospective IU predicting analogue overall PTS and PTS clusters: Regression predicting PTS total, F = 8.79, R² = .085, p < .001, β _{Inhibitory IU} = .30 (p = .001), β _{Prospective IU} = -.02 (p = .793); regression predicting PTS reexperiencing, F = 7.53, R² = .073, p < .001, β _{Inhibitory IU} = .25 (p = .005), β _{Prospective IU} = .04 (p = .691); regression predicting PTS avoidance, F = 4.55, R² = .046, p = .012, β _{Inhibitory IU} = .24 (p = .007), β _{Prospective IU} = -.05 (p = .546); regression predicting PTS hyperarousal, F = 9.04, R² = .087, p < .001, β _{Inhibitory IU} = .31 (p < .001), β _{Prospective IU} = -.03 (p = .735).