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Emotion regulation and self blame as mediators and moderators of trauma-specific treatment.

Psychology of Violence

Published online on

Abstract

Objective: Efficacy of trauma-specific cognitive–behavioral therapies (Trauma-Focused CBT; Alternatives for Families CBT) in treating sequelae (posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD; depression; conduct problems) for affected youth and families is established. Despite the emphasis on emotional and cognitive processes in explanatory models of sequelae and the inclusion of components to address these impairments, this is the first study to examine how emotion dysregulation and attributions of blame mediate or moderate treatment changes. Method: About 118 youth with trauma histories, ages 4–17 years old, and caregivers who completed treatment were included in the analyses, providing self- and/or caregiver-reported assessments that yielded indices of trauma history, behavioral and emotional symptomatology, emotion dysregulation, and self-blame. Results: PTSD symptoms and conduct problems significantly decreased across treatment. Analyses provided support for emotion dysregulation as a moderator of the reduction of PTSD symptoms and conduct behavior problems across treatment. Self-blame was a partial mediator and a moderator of conduct problems. Conclusions: Baseline emotion dysregulation and self-blame influenced trajectories of treatment reductions of PTSD and/or conduct problems, extending emotion and cognitive theories of symptom development to explain treatment-related changes. Patterns of change suggest a framework for selecting components to match clinical presentations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)