Social cognition and interpersonal impairments in trauma survivors with PTSD

Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma

Volumn 18, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 382-402

  Nietlisbach, Gabriela ^a   Maercker, Andreas ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

Interpersonal impairments; Social cognition; Social interaction; Trauma survivors

Indexed keywords

ANGER; AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR; COGNITION; CONFLICT; DISSOCIATIVE DISORDER; DISTRESS SYNDROME; EMPATHY; HUMAN; HUMAN RELATION; INFORMATION PROCESSING; INJURY; INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION; INTIMACY; IRRITABILITY; MENTAL CAPACITY; PERCEPTION; POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER; PSYCHOSOCIAL DISORDER; REVIEW; SELF CONCEPT; SEXUALITY; SOCIAL ADAPTATION; SOCIAL AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR; SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT; SOCIAL INTERACTION; SOCIAL SUPPORT; SURVIVOR;

EID: 70449623854     PISSN: 10926771     EISSN: 1545083X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10926770902881489     Document Type: Review

References (91)

1. Agnew, Z. K., Bhakoo, K. K., & Puri, B. K. (2007). The human mirror system: A motor resonance theory of mind-reading. Brain Research Reviews, 54(2), 286-293.
2. American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
3. Baron-Cohen, S., Jolliffe, T., Mortimore, C., & Robertson, M. (1997). Another advanced test of theory of mind: Evidence from very high functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 813-822.
4. Baron-Cohen, S., O'Riordan, M., Stone, V., Jones, R., & Plaisted, K. (1999). Recognition of faux pas by normally developing children and children with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 407-418.
5. Baron-Cohen, S., Tager-Flusberg, H., & Cohen, D. J. (2000). Understanding other minds: Perspectives from developmental neuroscience. New York: Oxford University Press.
6. Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste, Y., & Plumb, I. (2001). The "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test revised version: A study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 241-251.
7. Baumeister, R. F., DeWall, C. N., Ciarocco, N. J., & Twenge, J. M. (2005). Social exclusion impairs self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
8. Baumeister, R. F., Twenge, J. M., & Nuss, C. K. (2002). Effects of social exclusion on cognitive processes: Anticipated aloneness reduces intelligent thought. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(4), 817-827.
9. Blair, J., Sellars, C., Strickland, I., Clark, F., Williams, A., Smith, M., et al. (1996). Theory of mind in the psychopath. American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 7, 15-25.
10. Blanchard, E. B., Hickling, E. J., Taylor, A. E., & Loos, W. (1995). Psychiatric morbidity associated with motor vehicle accidents. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 183, 495-504.
11. Bloom, B. L., White, S. W., & Asher, S. J. (1979). Marital disruption as a stressful life event. In G. Levinger & O. C. Moles (Eds.), Divorce and separation: Context, causes and consequences (pp. 184-200). New York: Basic Books.
12. Bradley, J. R., & Cartwright, S. (2002). Social support, job stress, health, and job satisfaction among nurses in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Stress Management, 9, 163-182.
13. Brewin, C. R. (2005). Risk factor effect sizes in PTSD: What this means for intervention. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, 6(2), 123-130.
14. Brewin, C. R., Andrews, B., & Valentine, J. D. (2000). Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(5), 748-766.
15. Brune, M. (2001). Social cognition and psychopathology in an evolutionary perspective: Current status and proposals for research. Psychopathology, 34(2), 85-94.
16. Brune, M., & Brune-Cohrs, U. (2006). Theory of mind-evolution, ontogeny, brain mechanisms and psychopathology. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 30, 437-455.
17. Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., & Bernston, G. G. (2003). The anatomy of loneliness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 71-74.
18. Carr, L., Iacoboni, M., Dubeau, M. C., Mazziotta, J. C., & Lenzi, G. L. (2003). Neural mechanisms of empathy in humans: A relay from neural systems for imitation to limbic areas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100(9), 5497-5502.
19. Charuvastra, A., & Cloitre, M. (2008). Social bonds and posttraumatic stress disorder. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 301-328.
20. Cook, J. D., & Bickman, L. (1990). Social support and psychological symptomatology following a natural disaster. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3, 541-556.
21. Cook, J. M., Riggs, D. S., Thompson, R., Coyne, J. C., & Sheikh, J. I. (2004). Posttraumatic stress disorder and current relationship functioning among World War II ex-prisoners of war. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 36-45.
22. Cosmides, L. (1989). The logic of social exchange: Has natural selection shaped how humans reason? Studies with the Wason Selection Task. Cognition, 31, 187-276.
23. Davidson, J. R., Hughes, D., Blazer, D. G., & George, L. K. (1991). Post-traumatic stress disorder in the community: An epidemiological study. Psychological Medicine, 21, 713-721.
24. Davis, M. H. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10, 85-100.
25. Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2004). The functional architecture of human empathy. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 3(2), 71-100.
26. DePrince, A. P. (2005). Social cognition and revictimization risk. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, 6(1), 125-141.
27. Eisenberger, N. I., Lieberman, M. D., & Williams, K. D. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An FMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 302(5643), 290-292.
28. Freyd, J. J. (1994). Betrayal-trauma: Traumatic amnesia as an adaptive response to childhood abuse. Ethics & Behavior, 4, 307-329.
29. Frith, C. D. (1999). Interacting minds-A biological basis. Science, 286, 1692-1695.
30. Gallese, V. (2003). The roots of empathy: The shared manifold hypothesis and the neural basis of intersubjectivity. Psychopathology, 36, 171-180.
31. Gallese, V., & Goldman, A. (1998). Mirror neurons and the simulation theory of mind-reading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2, 493-501.
32. Gardner, W. L., Pickett, C. L., & Knowles, M. (2005). Social snacking and shielding: Using social symbols, selves, and surrogates in the service of belonging needs. In K. D. Williams, J. P. Forgas, & W. V. Hippel (Eds.), The social outcast: Ostracism, social exclusion, rejection, and bullying (pp. 227-242). New York: Psychological Press.
33. Gregory, C., Lough, S., Stone, V., Erzinclioglu, S., Martin, L., Baron-Cohen, S., et al. (2002). Theory of mind in patients with frontal variant frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease: Theoretical and practical implications. Brain, 125(pt. 4), 752-764.
34. Guay, S., Billette, V., & Marchand, A. (2006). Exploring the links between posttraumatic stress disorder and social support: Processes and potential research avenues. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19(3), 327-338.
35. Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J., & Rapson, R. (1994). Emotional contagion. New York: Cambridge University Press.
36. Jankowski, M. K., Schnurr, P. P., Adams, G. A., Green, B. L., Ford, J. D., & Friedman, M. J. (2004). A mediational model of PTSD in World War II veterans exposed to mustard gas. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 303-310.
37. Johnson, D. R., Rosenheck, R., Fontana, A., Lubin, H., Charney, D., & Southwick, S. (1996). Outcome of intensive inpatient treatment for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153(6), 771-777. (Pubitemid 26170537)
38. Johnson, S. M., & Greenberg, L. S. (1994). The heart of the matter: Perspectives on emotion in marital therapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
39. Jolliffe, D., & Farrington, D. P. (2004). Empathy and offending: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 9, 441-1176
40. Kilpatrick, D. G., Resnick, H. S., Saunders, B. E., & Best, C. L. (1989). National Women's Study PTSD Module. Charleston, SC: Unpublished instrument by the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center.
41. Leary, M. R. (1990). Responses to social exclusion: Social anxiety, jealousy, loneliness, depression, and low self-esteem. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9, 221-229.
42. Lee, L., Harkness, K. L., Sabbagh, M. A., & Jacobson, J. A. (2005). Mental state decoding abilities in clinical depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 86(2-3), 247-258.
43. Leslie, A. (1987). Pretence and representation: The origins of "theory of mind." Psychological Review, 94, 412-426.
44. Lough, S., & Hodges, J. R. (2002). Measuring and modifying abnormal social cognition in frontal variant frontotemporal dementia. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 53, 639-646.
45. Maercker, A. (2006). Victims' experiences in context: Social conditions of mental sequelae. In Weisser Ring (Ed.), Victim forever? (pp. 49-59). Baden-Baden: Nomos [in German].
46. Maercker, A. (2008a). A social facilitation model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Unpublished manuscript, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
47. Maercker, A. (2008b). Towards a new social facilitation model of PTSD. Paper 39. International Congress of Psychology, Berlin, July 2008.
48. Maercker, A., & Mehr, A. (2006). What if victims read a newspaper report about their victimisation? A study on relationship to PTSD symptoms in crime victims. European Psychologist, 11, 137-142.
49. Maercker, A., & Müller, J. (2004). Social acknowledgment as a victim or survivor: A scale to measure a recovery factor of PTSD. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 345-351.
50. Major, B., & O'Brian, T. (2005). The social psychology of stigma. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 393-421.
51. Maner, J. K., DeWall, C. N., Baumeister, R. F., & Schaller, M. (2007). Does social exclusion motivate interpersonal reconnection? Resolving the "porcupine problem." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 42-55.
52. McFarlane, A. C. (1988). The aetiology of post-traumatic stress disorders following a natural disaster. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 116-121.
53. McFarlane, A. C., & Bookless, C. (2001). The effect of PTSD on interpersonal relationships: Issues for emergency service workers. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 16, 261-267.
54. Moskowitz, G. B. (2005). Social cognition: Understanding self and others. New York: Guilford Press.
55. Müller, J., & Maercker, A. (2006). Disclosure und wahrgenommene gesellschaftliche Wertschätzung als Opfer als Prädiktoren von PTB bei Kriminalitätsopfern. Zeitschrift für Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie, 35, 49-58.
56. Müller, J., Moergeli, H., & Maercker, A. (2008). Disclosure and social acknowledgment as predictors of recovery from posttraumatic stress: A longitudinal study in crime victims. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 53(3), 160-168.
57. Nietlisbach, G., & Maercker, A. (2009). Effects of social exclusion in trauma survivors with PTSD. Manuscript submitted for publication.
58. Nietlisbach, G., Maercker, A., Rössler, W., & Haker, H. (2008). Are empathic abilities impaired in posttraumatic stress disorder? Manuscript submitted for publication.
59. Olff, M., Langeland, W., & Gersons, B. P. (2005). The psychobiology of PTSD: Coping with trauma. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 30, 974-982.
60. Orth, U., Cahill, S. P., Foa, F. B., & Maercker, A. (2008). Anger and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in crime victims: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 76(2), 208-218.
61. Orth, U., Montada, L., & Maercker, A. (2006). Feelings of revenge, retaliation motive, and posttraumatic stress reactions in victims of violent crimes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 221-243.
62. Ozer, E. J., Best, S. R., Lipsey, T. L., & Weiss, D. S. (2003). Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and symptoms in adults: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 52-73.
63. Platek, S. M., Critton, S. R., Myers, T. E., & Gallup, G. G. (2003). Contagious yawning: The role of self-awareness and mental state attribution. Cognitive Brain Research, 17, 223-227.
64. Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a "theory of mind"? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 4, 515-526.
65. Richell, R. A., Mitchell, D. G., Newman, C., Leonard, A., Baron-Cohen, S., & Blair, R. J. (2003). Theory of mind and psychopathy: Can psychopathic individuals read the "language of the eyes"? Neuropsychologia, 41, 523-526.
66. Riggs, D. S., Byrne, C. A., Weathers, F. W., & Litz, B. T. (1998). The quality of the intimate relationships of male Vietnam veterans: Problems associated with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 11, 87-101.
67. Rizzolatti, G., Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L., & Gallese, V. (2002). From mirror neurons to imitation, facts, and speculations. In A. N. Meltzoff & W. Prinz (Eds.), The imitative mind: Development, evolution, and brain bases (pp. 247-266). New York: Cambridge University Press.
68. Rizzolatti, G., Fadiga, L., Gallese, V., & Fogassi, L. (1996). Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions. Cognitive Brain Research, 3, 131-141. (Pubitemid 26094162)
69. Schachter, S. (1959). The psychology of affiliation. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
70. Schnurr, P. P., Lunney, C. A., & Sengupta, A. (2004). Risk factors for the development versus maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17(2), 85-95. (Pubitemid 39004705)
71. Schürmann, M., Hesse, M. D., Stephan, K. E., Saarela, M., Zilles, K., Hari, R., et al. (2005). Yearning to yawn: The neural basis of contagious yawning. Neuroimage, 24, 1260-1264.
72. Schützwohl, M., & Maercker, A. (2000). Anger in former East German political prisoners: Relationship to posttraumatic stress reactions and social support. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 188, 483-489.
73. Singer, T. (2006). The neuronal basis and ontogeny of empathy and mind reading: Review of literature and implications for future research. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 30(6), 855-863.
74. Singer, T., Seymour, B., O'Doherty, J. P., Stephan, K. E., Dolan, R. J., & Frith, C. D. (2006). Empathic neural responses are modulated by the perceived fairness of others. Nature, 439, 466-469.
75. Soderstrom, H. (2003). Psychopathy as a disorder of empathy. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 12(5), 249-252.
76. Solomon, Z., Mikulincer, M., Freid, B., & Wosner, Y. (1987). Family characteristics and posttraumatic stress disorder: A follow-up of Israeli combat stress reaction casualties. Family Process, 26, 383-394.
77. Solomon, Z., Waysman, M., & Mikulincer, M. (1990). Family functioning, perceived social support, and combat-related psychopathology: The moderating role of loneliness. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9, 456-472.
78. Spanier, G. B. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 38, 15-28.
79. Spinella, M. (2005). Prefrontal substrates of empathy: Psychometric evidence in a community sample. Biological Psychology, 70(3), 175-181.
80. Twenge, J. M., Baumeister, R. F., Tice, D. M., & Stucke, T. S. (2001). If you can't join them, beat them: Effects of social exclusion on aggressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(6), 1058-1069.
81. Ullman, S. E. (2003). Social reactions to child abuse disclosures: A critical review. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 12(1), 89-121.
82. Vollm, B. A., Taylor, A. N., Richardson, P., Corcoran, R., Stirling, J., McKie, S., et al. (2006). Neuronal correlates of theory of mind and empathy: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study in a nonverbal task. Neuroimage, 29(1), 90-98.
83. Williams, J. H., Whiten, A., Suddendorf, T., & Perrett, D. I. (2001). Imitation, mirror neurons and autism. Neuroscience and Behavioral Reviews, 25(4), 287-295.
84. Williams, K. D. (1997). Social ostracism. In R. Kowalski (Ed.), Aversive interpersonal behaviors (pp. 133-170). New York: Plenum.
85. Williams, K. D. (2007). Ostracism. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 425-452.
86. Williams, K. D., Cheung, C. K., & Choi, W. (2000). Cyberostracism: Effects of being ignored over the Internet. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(5), 748-762.
87. Williams, K. D., Forgas, J. P., Von Hippel, W., & Zadro, L. (2005). The social outcast: An overview. In K. D. Williams, J. P. Forgas, & W. Von Hippel (Eds.), The social outcast: Ostracism, social exclusion, rejection, and bullying (pp. 1-16). New York: Psychology Press.
88. Williams, K. D., & Sommer, K. L. (1997). Social ostracism by coworkers: Does rejection lead to social loafing or compensation? Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 693-706.
89. Williams, K. D., & Zadro, L. (2001). Ostracism: On being ignored, excluded, and rejected. In M. Leary (Ed.), Interpersonal rejection (pp. 21-53). New York: Oxford University Press.
90. Wimmer, H., & Perner, J. (1983). Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children's understanding of deception. Cognition, 13, 103-128.
91. Yoshihama, M., & Horrocks, J. (2005). Relationship between emotional numbing and arousal symptoms in American women of Japanese descent who experienced interpersonal victimization. Anxiety Disorders, 19, 443-459.