Social support and (complex) posttraumatic stress symptom severity: does gender matter?

Fiche publication

Date publication

octobre 2024

Journal

European journal of psychotraumatology

Auteurs

Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Dr ESSADEK Aziz

Tous les auteurs :
Fares-Otero NE, Sharp TH, Balle SR, Quaatz SM, Vieta E, Åhs F, Allgaier AK, Arévalo A, Bachem R, Belete H, Mossie TB, Berzengi A, Capraz N, Ceylan D, Dukes D, Essadek A, Iqbal N, Jobson L, Levy-Gigi E, Lüönd A, Martin-Soelch C, Michael T, Oe M, Olff M, Örnkloo H, Prakash K, Ramakrishnan M, Raghavan V, Şar V, Seedat S, Spies G, SusilKumar V, Wadji DL, Wamser-Nanney R, Haim-Nachum S, Schnyder U, Sopp MR, Pfaltz MC, Halligan SL

Lien Pubmed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39403959

Résumé

Perceived social support is an established predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after exposure to a traumatic event. Gender is an important factor that could differentiate responses to social support, yet this has been little explored. Symptoms of complex PTSD are also common following trauma but have been under-researched in this context. Large scale studies with culturally diverse samples are particularly lacking. In a multi-country sample, we examined: (a) gender differences in perceived social support and both posttraumatic stress symptom severity (PTSS) and complex posttraumatic stress symptom severity (CPTSS); (b) associations between social support and PTSS/CPTSS; and (c) the potential moderating role of gender in the relationship between perceived social support and trauma-related distress. A total of 2483 adults (= 30yrs, 69.9% females) from 39 countries, who had been exposed to mixed trauma types, completed the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the International Trauma Questionnaire (which captures PTSS/CPTSS). Regression analyses examined associations between gender, perceived social support, and PTSS/CPTSS; and tested for gender by social support interactions in predicting PTSS/CPTSS scores. Models were adjusted for age and socioeconomic status. In our cross-country sample, females had greater PTSS/CPTSS than males ( = .23 [95% CI 0.16, 0.30], < .001; = .20 [0.12, 0.27], < .001; respectively), but there was no evidence of gender differences in perceived social support ( = .05 [-0.05, 0.16], = .33). For both genders, low perceived social support was associated with higher PTSS/CPTSS (females: = -.16 [-0.20, -0.12], < .001; = -.27 [-0.30, -0.24], < .001; respectively; males: = -.22 [-0.29, -0.15], < .001; = -.31 [-0.36, -0.26], < .001; respectively), and for PTSS only we found weak evidence that this association was stronger for males vs. females ( = .07 [0.04, 0.14, = .04). Individuals who feel more socially supported have lower trauma-related distress, and this association is similar in males and females. PTSD/CPTSD interventions may benefit from augmenting perceived social support, regardless of gender.