Relationship between Childhood Trauma and Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with the Mediating Role of Cognitive Flexibility and Rumination

Considering the possibility of recurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, accurate identification of the factors involved in the initiation and maintenance of this disorder is of great importance. In this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between childhood trauma and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, considering the mediating role of cognitive flexibility and rumination.

The current cross-sectional correlation study was conducted using structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the present study was all the people who referred to the medical centers of Hamadan, Iran, in 2021 of whom 280 people were selected by available sampling. To collect data, Kian et al.'s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire, Bernstein et al.'s Childhood Trauma Scale, Dennis and Vanderwaal's Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire, and Nolen-Hoeksma's and Mauer's Rumination Questionnaire were used. Data analysis was done by structural equation modeling method in SPSS.21 and AMOS software.

The results of the research showed that childhood trauma had a positive and significant relationship with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and rumination and a negative and significant relationship with psychological flexibility. There was a positive and significant relationship between psychological flexibility and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. On the other hand, the results of the path analysis showed that rumination and cognitive flexibility played a mediating role between childhood trauma and post-traumatic stress (P<0.05).

Paying attention to cognitive flexibility and rumination plays an important role in the relationship between childhood trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder