Kontrolfokus (eng. Locus of control) refererer til hvorvidt mennesker føler, at de kan kontrollere de situationer som de er i og påvirkes af. Individer som beskriver de situationer de indgår i som påvirket af deres egne handler, benytter en indre kontrolfokus, mens individer der forklarer situationer som påvirket af ydre faktorer der er ude af deres kontrol, benytter sig af en ydre kontrolfokus. Undersøgelser har vist at en ydre kontrolfokus er associeret med flere PTSD-symptomer og ses som værende en risikofaktor for udviklingen af PTSD. Videnscenter for Psykotraumatologi bidrager med viden om den generelle sammenhæng mellem kontrolfokus og langtidsfølgerne ved PTSD, samt hvorvidt kontrolfokus kan forudsige kronisk eller længerevarende PTSD.
We present PTSD-trajectories of resilience, delayed onset, recovery, and chronicity.•We investigate the predictive role of locus of control and coping style related to membership of these trajectories.•Internal locus of control decreases the risk of belonging to the symptomatic trajectories.•Less use of emotion-focused coping decreases the risk of symptomatic trajectory membership.•Less use of problem-focused coping increases the risk of membership of symptomatic trajectories. While longitudinal posttraumatic stress responses are known to be heterogeneous, little is known about predictors of those responses. We investigated if locus of control (LOC) and coping style are associated with long-term PTSD-trajectories after exposure to combat. Six hundred and seventy five Israeli soldiers with or without combat stress reaction (CSR) from the Lebanon war were assessed 1, 2, and 20 years after the war. Combat exposure, LOC, and coping style were then investigated as covariates of the trajectories of resilience, recovery, delayed onset, and chronicity. Symptomatic trajectories in the CSR and the non-CSR group were significantly associated to varying degrees with perceived life threat during combat (ORs: 1.76–2.53), internal LOC (0.77–0.87), emotional coping style (0.28–0.34), and low use of problem-focused coping (2.12–3.11). In conclusion, assessment of LOC and coping can aid prediction of chronic PTSD outcomes of combat exposure.
Relevante publikationer:
Karstoft, K-I., Armour, C., Elklit, A. & Solomon, Z. (2015). The role of locus of control and coping style in predicting longitudinal PTSD-trajectories after combat exposure. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 32, 89-94. Doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.03.007