Emotion Regulation and Experiential Avoidance Overlap in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

This study aimed to elucidate the independent and synergistic effects of emotion regulation (ER) defecits and experiential avoidance (EA) in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We addressed these questions in a sample of trauma-exposed college students. Using a sample of 620 college students (75.6% female, 48.9% Caucasian, 39.2% African American), all participants were trauma-exposed, in accordance with criterion A for PTSD in the DSM-5. 163 (26.3%) participants screened positive for PTSD. In correlational analyses, EA, ER, and PTSD showed largely strong, positive relations to each other. Moderation analyses showed that ER difficulties were predictive of PTSD severity only among individuals high in EA. Among those low in EA, there was not a significant relation between DERS and PCL. This pattern held for full scale DERS score as well as for two subscales: Nonacceptance of Emotional Responses, and Limited Access to Emotional Regulation Strategies