EMOTIONAL PROCESSING IN SURVIVORS OF THE JUPITER CRUISE SHIP DISASTER

Twenty-three survivors of the Jupiter cruise ship disaster completed t he Impact of Events Scale, a measure of intrusion and avoidance, as we ll as measures of arousal and affect at two points in time: between 3 and 7 months (Time 1) and between 12 and 14 months (Time 2) following the event. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationshi p between intrusion and avoidance and symptoms of depression and anxie ty. The results suggest that although higher scores on intrusion and a voidance are strongly associated with poorer psychological outcome at each point in time, it is only intrusion which may be predictive of la ter symptoms. Avoidance would seem to be a response to early distress. These data are discussed with reference to a cognitive-emotional proc essing model of post-traumatic stress disorder.