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Updated: Dec 28, 2025

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
Published on: March 8, 2018
Unique and Interactive Relations among Posttraumatic Stress, Distress Tolerance, and Anger Responding to Traumatic
Danielle M Morabito1, Kimberly A Babson1, Christal L Badour2
1National Center for PTSD-Dissemination & Training Division, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 795 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA.
Abstract:
Experimental and clinical studies have demonstrated an association between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and anger. Expanding upon past research, the current study examined the interactive associations among PTSS, distress tolerance (DT), and anger responding among a sample of 95 trauma-exposed adults. This study used a personalized script-driven imagery procedure to gauge emotional responses. Results from a hierarchical linear regression demonstrated a main effect of PTSS and an interaction between PTSS and DT. Simple slope analyses indicated that PTSS level was unrelated to anger responding among traumatic event-exposed people relatively low in DT, while anger responses were positively correlated with levels of PTSS among those relatively higher in DT. These findings highlight the need for future research to consider distress tolerance as well as other emotional vulnerability factors in assessing PTSD-related anger.
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