Emotion Dysregulation and Social Support in PTSD and Depression: A Study of Trauma-Exposed Veterans

Emotion dysregulation has been associated with impaired interpersonal functioning and increased risk of posttraumatic psychopathology. Given that social support is a robust predictor of psychiatric morbidity following trauma exposure, we examined whether emotion dysregulation was associated with posttraumatic psychopathology through its negative effect on social support. Using self-report data from 90 military veterans (89.9% men) enrolled in an outpatient psychotherapy program for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we found that social support partially mediated the effect of emotion dysregulation on PTSD (P_M = .10) and depression symptoms (P_M = .14). When source of support was considered, friend (P_M = .08) and significant other support (P_M = .06) were greater mediators of the effect of emotion dysregulation on depression symptoms than family support (P_M = .01). There were no differential mediating effects for support providers on PTSD symptoms. Our findings indicate that social support is a statistically significant yet clinically limited mechanism through which emotion dysregulation is linked with psychiatric symptoms. Implications for these limitations and alternative potentially relevant interpersonal mechanisms are discussed.