The influence of betrayal trauma on complex posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms

Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (complex PTSD) is characterized by symptoms of PTSD combined with disturbance in self-organization and is distressing for many people who have experienced chronic and repetitive interpersonal trauma. Studies on the precursors to complex PTSD have thus far focused on the forms of trauma perpetrated rather than who perpetrated the trauma. Traumas that are associated with complex PTSD (i.e., chronic and repetitive interpersonal traumas) are often perpetrated by someone that is close to the victim and thus involve an element of betrayal. However, there is little research on whether traumas high in betrayal are more associated with complex PTSD symptoms than traumas lower in betrayal. The aim of this study is to examine the association between traumas with varying degrees of betrayal and complex PTSD symptoms.

We examined this association in a sample of adults (N = 364) recruited using Amazon's Mechanical Turk using a Bayesian approach to multiple regression.

Results suggest that interpersonal traumas both with and without a component of betrayal were associated with complex PTSD symptoms for both women and men. We further found that for men, noninterpersonal trauma was also associated with complex PTSD symptoms.

Study findings highlight the role of interpersonal trauma on complex PTSD symptoms, especially for women. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).