TY - JOUR
T1 - Temporal relationship of posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters during and after an expressive writing intervention for Chinese American breast cancer survivors
AU - Chu, Qiao
AU - Wu, Ivan Haw Chong
AU - Tang, Moni
AU - Tsoh, Janice
AU - Lu, Qian
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the American Cancer Society [ MRSGT-10-011-01-CPPB PI : Qian Lu].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant condition and frequently observed among breast cancer survivors. Extant literature has demonstrated the effectiveness of expressive writing interventions in reducing PTSD among breast cancer survivors. However, little is known about how different PTSD symptom clusters influence each other over time during and after the expressive writing intervention among breast cancer survivors. We investigated how the three PTSD symptom clusters (reexperiencing, avoidance and hyperarousal) influence each other during and after an expressive writing intervention among Chinese American breast cancer survivors. Methods: Chinese American breast cancer survivors (n = 136) completed an expressive writing intervention. Their PTSD symptoms were assessed at baseline, 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-ups. Results: Using cross-lagged panel analysis, the model with hyperarousal symptoms at each assessment wave predicting the subsequent severity of avoidance and reexperiencing symptoms indicated the best fit, χ2(52) = 65.422, p = .100; CFI = 0.990, RMSEA = 0.044, 95% CI [0.000, 0.074]. Conclusion: The results suggest that hyperarousal symptoms predict the subsequent severity of reexperiencing and avoidance symptoms over time during and after the expressive writing intervention. The findings highlight the importance of early diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of hyperarousal symptoms in enhancing the efficacy of PTSD interventions and reducing the chronicity in PTSD among Chinese American breast cancer survivors. Clinical Trial Registration at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02946619.
AB - Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant condition and frequently observed among breast cancer survivors. Extant literature has demonstrated the effectiveness of expressive writing interventions in reducing PTSD among breast cancer survivors. However, little is known about how different PTSD symptom clusters influence each other over time during and after the expressive writing intervention among breast cancer survivors. We investigated how the three PTSD symptom clusters (reexperiencing, avoidance and hyperarousal) influence each other during and after an expressive writing intervention among Chinese American breast cancer survivors. Methods: Chinese American breast cancer survivors (n = 136) completed an expressive writing intervention. Their PTSD symptoms were assessed at baseline, 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-ups. Results: Using cross-lagged panel analysis, the model with hyperarousal symptoms at each assessment wave predicting the subsequent severity of avoidance and reexperiencing symptoms indicated the best fit, χ2(52) = 65.422, p = .100; CFI = 0.990, RMSEA = 0.044, 95% CI [0.000, 0.074]. Conclusion: The results suggest that hyperarousal symptoms predict the subsequent severity of reexperiencing and avoidance symptoms over time during and after the expressive writing intervention. The findings highlight the importance of early diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of hyperarousal symptoms in enhancing the efficacy of PTSD interventions and reducing the chronicity in PTSD among Chinese American breast cancer survivors. Clinical Trial Registration at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02946619.
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Chinese American
KW - Expressive writing
KW - PTSD symptom clusters
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.110142
DO - 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.110142
M3 - Article
C2 - 32485623
AN - SCOPUS:85085543794
SN - 0022-3999
VL - 135
JO - Journal of Psychosomatic Research
JF - Journal of Psychosomatic Research
M1 - 110142
ER -