Correlates and consequences of emotion regulation difficulties among OEF/OIF/OND veterans

This study examined trauma frequency, alcohol use, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as predictors of emotion regulation (ER) difficulties among post-9/11 Veterans.

Seventy-four Veterans (95.5% male; mean age = 40; 45.9% Caucasian) completed questionnaires on demographics, PTSD symptoms, ER, trauma frequency, and drinking.

Positive correlations were observed between PTSD symptom severity and ER difficulties (r = .6, p < .001) and drinking behavior and emotion dysregulation (r = .25, p < .05). PTSD symptoms above the clinical cutoff resulted in significantly higher ER difficulties than subclinical symptoms, t(66) = -2.975, p < .01). Linear regressions revealed that PTSD accounted for 37% of the variance in ER difficulties, F(1, 66) = 37.34, p < .05. Cluster C was the only significant predictor of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) total scores (B = 1.40, p < .05). Regression analyses on DERS subscales were also examined. Both PTSD Checklist-Specific (PCL-S) total and Cluster C significantly predicted the subscales of nonacceptance (PCL-S total, B = .30, p < .001; Cluster C, B = .45, p < .05) and clarity (PCL-S total, B = .12, p < .05; Cluster C, B = .31, p < .05). PCL-S total predicted strategies (PCL-S total, B = .43, p < .01). PCL-S total was the only significant predictor of the DERS subscales of goals (B = .21, p < .001) and impulse (B = .27, p < .001). There were no significant predictors for the subscale of awareness.

The findings will aid the development of targeted intervention strategies in Veterans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).