Stress‐Generative Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Transactional Associations Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Stressful Life Events in a Longitudinal Sample

Longitudinal studies have demonstrated transactional associations between psychopathology and stressful life events (SLEs), such that psychopathology predicts the occurrence of new SLEs, and SLEs in turn predict increasing symptom severity. The association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), specifically, and stress generation remains unclear. This study used temporally sequenced data from 116 veterans (87.9% male) to examine whether PTSD symptoms predicted new onset SLEs, and if these SLEs were associated with subsequent PTSD severity. The SLEs were objectively rated, using a clinician‐administered interview and consensus‐rating approach, to assess the severity, frequency, and personal dependence (i.e., if the event was due to factors that were independent of or dependent on the individual) of new‐onset SLEs. A series of mediation models were tested, and results provided evidence for moderated mediation whereby baseline PTSD severity robustly predicted personally dependent SLEs, B = 0.03, p = .006, and dependent SLEs predicted increases in follow‐up PTSD symptom severity, B = −0.04, p = .003, among participants with relatively lower baseline PTSD severity. After we controlled for baseline PTSD severity, personality traits marked by low constraint (i.e., high impulsivity) were also associated with an increased number of dependent SLEs. Our results provide evidence for a stress‐generative role of PTSD and highlight the importance of developing interventions aimed at reducing the occurrence of personally dependent stressors. Resumen Spanish s by the Asociación Chilena de Estrés Traumático (ACET) Efectos Generadores de Estrés del TEPT: Asociaciones Transaccionales entre el TEPT y Acontecimientos Vitales Estresantes en una Muestra Longitudinal EFECTOS GENERADORES DE ESTRÉS DE TEPT Estudios longitudinales han demostrado asociaciones transaccionales entre psicopatología y acontecimientos vitales estresantes de la vida (AVEs en español, SLEs en sus siglas en inglés), como por ejemplo que la psicopatología predice la ocurrencia de nuevos AVEs, y que por su parte AVEs predicen el aumento en la severidad de la sintomatología. La asociación entre el trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT), específicamente, y la generación de estrés permanece poco clara. Este estudio usó datos secuenciados temporalmente de 116 veteranos (87,9% hombres) para examinar si los síntomas de TEPT predecían nuevos AVEs, y si estos AVEs estaban asociados con la subsecuente severidad