The effects of suppressing trauma-related thoughts on women with rape-related posttraumatic stress disorder

A hallmark symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the presence of intrusive thoughts that come to mind against an individual's will and ar e frequently accompanied by considerable distress. This investigation exami ned the effects of deliberate suppression of rape-related thoughts on femal e sexual assault survivors, in order to explore this facet of PTSD. Sevente en women with chronic PTSD following a sexual assault were contrasted with nineteen survivors without PTSD, using a thought suppression paradigm (e.g. [Wegner, Schneider, Carter, & White (1987) Paradoxical effects of thought suppression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53 5-13]). Resul ts indicated that PTSD participants experienced a rebound in the frequency of rape-related thoughts following deliberate suppression, whereas non-PTSD participants did not experience a rebound. Reported level of perceived con trollability over rape-related thoughts for the PTSD participants was signi ficantly lower during the suppression phase (as compared with the expressio n phase) relative to the non-PTSD participants. PTSD participants were sign ificantly more anxious, depressed and distressed throughout the procedure r elative to non-PTSD participants, although mood changes did not parallel th e rebound effect found with rape-related thoughts in the PTSD group. Result s are discussed in light of the role that intrusive thoughts may play in th e maintenance of PTSD. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.