“Unlike previous studies, by controlling for highly correlated variables: number of previous traumatic events experienced and disaster-related stressors,” wrote Adam P. McGuire, PhD, formerly of the University of Mississippi, Jackson, and now at the Veterans Integrated Service Network, and his coauthors.
The authors also commented on the “unexpected” finding that the significant buffering effect of social support was seen both in displaced and nondisplaced residents, “which suggests that perceived social support is linked to important cognitive and behavioral processes that reduce the likelihood of developing depressive symptoms [e.g., challenging negative beliefs about self], and those effects are not limited to nondisplaced disaster survivors.”
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Midwest Regional Postdoctoral Program in Eating Disorder Research. The authors had no conflicts of interest.
SOURCE: McGuire AP et al. J Trauma Stress. 2018 Apr 5. doi: 10.1002/jts.22270.