Peritraumatic reactions in relation to trauma exposure and symptoms of posttraumatic stress in high school students

Figures & data

Table 1. Sociodemographic background data.

	Sample		Reference Group
	%	n	%
Gender
Male	51.4	2741	51.6
Female	48.6	2591	48.4
Birthplace Adolescent
Sweden	91.4	4871	91.0
Europe	4.1	220	2.4
Outside Europe	4.5	241	6.6
Birthplace Parents
Both parents born in Sweden	78.4	4178	81.5^a
One or both in Europe	8.7	464	18.0^a
One or both outside Europe	12.9	690	_
Employment Parents
Both employed	68.3	3641	87.3^b
At least one unemployed^c	31.7	1691	12.7
Residency
Both parents^d	74.5	3973	59.2
One parent	20.3	1080	39.9
Alone or other	5.2	279	0.9
Education Programme
Theoretical	41.4	2206	34.6^e
Practical	56.9	3033	55.7^e
Introductory	1.7	93	9.8^e
Municipality Size (inhabitants)
Large>200,000	19.1	1018	21.2^f
Medium 50,000–200,000	41.8	2229	46.6^f
Small <50,000	39.1	2085	32.2^f

Statistics Sweden registers contain data of the population by sex, age, marital status, country of birth and citizenship for all of Sweden, in each county, in county-blocks, metropolitan areas and each municipality. Asylum seekers who have not yet obtained a permit to stay are not included in the population statistics. In 2008, there was a total population of 9,256,347: male = 4,603,710; female = 4,652,637. Total number of 17-year-olds was 131,366: male = 67,836; female = 63,530. The Swedish National Agency for education report total second grade students at 83,953: male = 42,097; female = 41,856. N = 5332.

^aStatistics Sweden, both within and outside Europe, biological born abroad or adopted abroad excluded.

^bStatistics Sweden, Unemployment 15 to 74 years.

^cUnemployment = unemployed, being a student, on parental leave, not working due to disability or chronic or temporary illness.

^dLiving with both parents of origin or alternate residence.

^eThe Swedish National Agency for Education.

^fStatistics Sweden, three categories made from nine SCB categories.

Table 2. Descriptive data of study variables.

Variable	Mean	Range	SD
JVQ (lifetime events)	4.12	33	4.043
Peritraumatic reactions
Total (PT)	4.94	152	9.942
Physiological arousal (PA)	1.06	47	2.990
Peritraumatic dissociation (PD)	1.56	55	3.774
Intervention thoughts (IT)	2.32	76	4.400
TSCC
Total	29.15	162	21.279
Dissociation	5.77	30	4.635
Posttraumatic stress	6.27	30	5.190

N = 5332

Table 3. Bivariate, zero order correlation of events, peritraumatic reactions and symptoms.

		Peritraumatic reactions				Trauma symptoms (TSCC)
	JVQ	Total	PA	PD	IT	Total	Dis	PTS
JVQ	1
Peritraumatic reactions total (PT)	0.73	1
Physiological arousal (PA)	0.50	0.68	1
Peritraumatic dissociation (PD)	0.59	0.79	0.52	1
Intervention thoughts (IT)	0.65	0.90	0.51	0.60	1
TSCC total	0.41	0.41	0.29	0.33	0.38	1
TSCC dissociation	0.34	0.35	0.25	0.28	0.33	0.87	1
TSCC posttraumatic stress	0.37	0.40	0.28	0.33	0.38	0.87	0.75	1

All values significant. p < .001. Spearman rho (two tailed). N = 5332.

Figure 1. Mediation of the association between trauma exposure and trauma symptoms by peritraumatic reactions. Unstandardized B coefficients are displayed with t and p values. Trauma exposure indicates total trauma exposure measured by the JVQ lifetime total scale, trauma symptoms indicates total score from the TSCC, peritraumatic reactions are measured by peritrauma total scale. Path c indicates the association between trauma exposure and trauma symptoms without the inclusion of a mediator. Path c´ indicates the direct effect, i.e. controlling for the mediator in the model. Paths a, b and c are significant as evidence by p ≤ .01. The ‘t’ statistic is computed by dividing the estimated value of the parameter by its standard error. This statistic is a measure of the likelihood that the actual value of the parameter is not zero. The larger the absolute value of t, the less likely that the actual value of the parameter could be zero.

Figure 2. Mediation of the association between trauma exposure and trauma symptoms by peritraumatic reactions. Unstandardized B coefficients are displayed with t and p values. Trauma exposure indicates total trauma exposure measured by the JVQ lifetime total scale, trauma symptoms indicates total score from the TSCC, peritraumatic reactions are measured by peritrauma scales. Path c indicates the association between trauma exposure and trauma symptoms without the inclusion of a mediator. Path c´ indicates the direct effect, i.e. with the mediator. Paths a, b and c´ are significant as evidence by p ≤ .01. The ‘t’ statistic is computed by dividing the estimated value of the parameter by its standard error. This statistic is a measure of the likelihood that the actual value of the parameter is not zero. The larger the absolute value of t, the less likely that the actual value of the parameter could be zero.

Table 4. Separated mediating models for males/females with TSCC tot, TSCC dis and TSCC pts as dependent variables and JVQ as independent variable. First model with PT total, then separating the different mediating factors PA, PD and IT.

TSCC
		Tot		Dis		PTS
Independent		b	BCa CI	b	BCa CI	b	BCa CI
PT total	F	0.35	0.16–0.53	0.06	0.02–0.12	0.12	0.08–0.17
	M	0.32	0.12–0.56	0.07	0.02–0.11	0.10	0.05–0.16
PA	F	0.28	−0.18–0.20	0.00	−0.04–0.04	0.00	−0.05–0.05
	M	−0.07	−0.30–0.13	−0.02	−0.06–0.02	0.00	−0.05–0.04
PD	F	0.23	0.02–0.50	0.05	−0.00–0.10	0.07	0.01–0.12
	M	0.43	0.20–0.68	0.09	0.04–0.14	0.09	0.05–0.14
IT	F	0.09	−0.14–0.32	0.01	−0.04–0.07	0.06	0.01–0.11
	M	−0.90	−23.00–0.00	−0.02	−0.04–0.00	−0.01	−0.03–0.02

# BCa CI = Corrected and Accelerated Confidence Interval. Significance is obtained when 0 is not in the confidence interval. Mediation analysis was performed with the use of the Process macro for SPSS by Andrew F. Hayes.