(PS11-B29) PTSD and Perceived Social Support: The Moderating Effect of Coping Style

Introduction: Trauma exposure increases during adolescence and young adulthood, and rates of PTSD in college students resemble those of the general population. The social erosion hypothesis posits PTSD symptoms can put a strain on social resources and erode relationships over time. However, how one copes in the aftermath of trauma exposure could influence the strength of the relationship between PTSD symptoms and social support. Three main coping styles are often discussed in the research literature: problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and avoidant coping. In general, problem-focused coping tends to be associated with positive psychological outcomes, while avoidant coping can maintain or exacerbate symptoms. The aim of this research was to examine the relationship between PTSD and perceived social support in a sample of Appalachian college students, and to investigate if coping style moderated the relationship between the two variables.

Method: Data were taken from a larger study on college student mental health and help-seeking being conducted at a mid-sized public university in South Central Appalachia. Participants who endorsed experiencing a Criterion A event and reported clinically significant PTSD symptoms (i.e., scored 31 or higher on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 [PCL-5]) were included in the present study (n = 113). Participants ranged in age from 18 to 51 years (M = 19.76, SD = 4.25). Most identified as White (86.2%) and Non-Latino/a/x (94.8%). Coping style was assessed using the BRIEF-COPE and perceived social support was measured with the Social Provisions Scale. Three multiple regression models were run to examine whether the association between PTSD symptom severity and perceived social support was moderated by avoidant, problem-focused, and emotion-focused coping, respectively.

Results: Bivariate correlations revealed a negative association between PTSD symptom severity and perceived social support (r = -.30, p = .01). While avoidant coping was associated with lower perceived social support (b = -.7.23, p = .006) and problem-focused coping was associated with greater perceived social support, (b = 9.32, p < .0001), the interaction terms in these two models were not significant. Results of the third regression model indicated that emotion-focused coping was associated with greater perceived social support (b = 8.24, p =.001) and PTSD symptoms were associated with lower perceived social support (b = -.31, p =.001). The interaction term was significant (b = -.47, p =.03). Simple slopes analyses revealed that the relationship between PTSD symptom severity and perceived social support was stronger at high levels of emotion-focused coping (b = -.52, p < .001) than at average (b = -.31, p = .001) or low (b = -.09, p = .554) levels of emotion-focused coping.

Discussion: Findings suggest there is a stronger negative relationship between PTSD symptoms and perceived social support among participants with higher levels of emotion-focused coping. One aspect of emotion-focused coping is “venting” or expressing negative feelings to others, which could be experienced as aversive and contribute to deterioration of social support, consistent with the social erosion hypothesis.