Quality of Life, Emotion Regulation, and Dissociation: Evaluating Unique Relations in an Undergraduate Sample and Probable PTSD Subsample

Objective: Previous research has documented a strong association between emotion regulation (ER) and quality of life (QoL). Nevertheless, extant studies have not tested this association in participants meeting diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder nor accounted for other explanatory variables statistically. Our primary objective was to evaluate the unique relations among ER dimensions and QoL while controlling for dissociation, neuroticism, and PTSD symptoms statistically. Our secondary aim was to test the hypothesis that the correlation between PTSD symptoms and dissociation will be greater in a sample with clinically elevated PTSD compared with a nonclinical sample. Method: Data were collected from an unselected undergraduate sample (N = 502) and a subsample of participants with probable PTSD (N = 53) using self-report measures. Results: Analyses revealed that increased general emotional dysregulation, dissociation, PTSD symptoms, blaming others, neuroticism, and impulsivity were uniquely related to poor QoL in the overall sample whereas increased dissociation, impulsivity, and blaming others were uniquely related to poor QoL in the probable PTSD subsample. We found evidence for a moderate correlation between PTSD symptoms and dissociation in the probable PTSD subsample, but this correlation was not significantly greater than the correlation between the two variables in the overall sample. Conclusions: ER dimensions (e.g., dissociation, blaming others, impulsivity) may represent novel treatment targets for tailored psychosocial interventions promoting QoL in the general population and individuals with PTSD. Future longitudinal studies with a larger trauma-exposed sample are necessary to replicate and extend our findings. Clinical Impact Statement ER dimensions (e.g., dissociation, blaming others, impulsivity) contributed to poor QoL in a large sample of undergraduate students and a probable PTSD subsample. These dimensions may represent novel treatment targets for interventions promoting QoL. We also found that the strength of the correlation between dissociation and PTSD was not significantly different between the two samples.

Automated summary

The research highlights the strong association between emotion regulation and quality of life, especially in participants with probable PTSD. Dimensions like dissociation, blaming others, and impulsivity have unique impacts on QoL, suggesting they could be novel treatment targets for interventions. The correlation between dissociation and PTSD symptoms was not significantly different between the two samples.