Links between personality functioning and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms: a network analysis.
Researchers
Jürgen Fuchshuber, Henrik Kessler, Aram Kehyayan, Magdalena Pape, Tobias Hofmann, Matthias Rose, Katrin Imbierowicz, Franziska Geiser, Antonie Bierling, Kerstin Weidner, Jörg Rademacher, Silke Michalek, Eva Morawa, Yesim Erim, Martin Teufel, Alexander Bäuerle, Stanislav Heinzmann, Claas Lahmann, Eva Milena Johanne Peters, Johannes Kruse, Dirk von Boetticher, Christoph Herrmann-Lingen, Mariel Nöhre, Martina de Zwaan, Ulrike Dinger, Hans-Christoph Friederich, Alexander Niecke, Christian Albus, Rüdiger Zwerenz, Manfred Beutel, Casper Roenneberg, Peter Henningsen, Barbara Stein, Christiane Waller, Philipp Wülfing, Carsten Spitzer, Andreas Stengel, Stephan Zipfel, Katja Weimer, Harald Gündel, Stephan Herpertz, Stephan Doering
Abstract
<b>Background:</b> The study investigates the association between personality functioning (PF) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a large naturalistic clinical sample using a network analytical approach.<b>Objectives:</b> It aims to determine whether the previously observed link between PF and PTSD persists after controlling for frequent comorbidities (depression, anxiety and somatic symptoms), and to identify bridges connecting both clinical constructs.<b>Methods:</b> A regularised partial correlation network between PF, PTSD, as well as depression, anxiety and somatic symptoms was estimated at the total scale, subdomain and item level. For this aim, data from the Multicenter Effectiveness Study of Inpatient Psychosomatic Psychotherapeutic Treatment (MEPP) were reanalysed, comprising an overall <i>N</i> = 1899 patients (Age: <i>M</i> = 39.73y, SD = 14.11, range = 18-84; female = 69%).<b>Results:</b> A robust conditional association between PF and PTSD (<i>E</i> = .31) was observed. Among PF subdomains, self-perception (<i>E</i> = .18), and relationship model (<i>E</i> = .21) showed direct links to PTSD. Symptom-level analysis identified negative beliefs (PTSD) and self-esteem, interpersonal distrust and affective dysregulation (PF) as the central bridge nodes connecting both constructs.<b>Conclusions:</b> The relationship between personality functioning and PTSD is specific and distinct from general distress. A treatment focus on negative self-perception, interpersonal (dis)trust and affective regulation might be a promising pathway for symptom reduction, specifically in patients with comorbid PTSD and PF impairments.<b>Trial registration:</b> German Clinical Trials Register identifier: DRKS00016412..
Personality functioning showed a specific association with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms beyond depression, anxiety, and somatic symptom burden.Impairments in self-perception and internalised relationship models were the personality domains most strongly linked to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.In the item-level network analysis, negative beliefs, low self-esteem, interpersonal distrust, and emotional dysregulation emerged as key bridge nodes between the two clinical constructs.