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The role of social acknowledgement as a victim or survivor in the course of posttraumatic stress disorder

Iwona Drapała1, Maja Lis-Turlejska2

Affiliacja i adres do korespondencji
PSYCHIATR. PSYCHOL. KLIN. 2013, 13 (4), p. 264–270
Streszczenie

The knowledge about traumatic stress and its psychopathological consequences has been developing during the last thirty years. Within an extensive literature applied to traumatic stress we can observe an evolution with regards to many issues. Changes are connected with the definition of “traumatic stressor,” particular symptoms of PTSD, knowledge about the prevalence of traumatic events, PTSD diagnosis, risk factors as well as resilience. Although a traumatic event is considered as a main cause of PTSD, the research applied to PTSD aetiology enables identification of many biological and psychosocial factors which contribute to development and maintenance of this disorder. The article presents the Maercker and Müller concept of social acknowledgement as a victim or survivor, who created a Social Acknowledgement as a Victim or Survivor Questionnaire (SAQ). A review of research on the relationship between social acknowledgement and intensity of PTSD symptoms is also presented. Social acknowledgement is a victim’s experience of positive reactions from society vs. negative reactions – ignorance and rejection. This concept takes into consideration a broad context of the victim and is one of the elements of the sociointerpersonal model of PTSD (Maercker and Horn). The presented model combines existing models concentrated on intrapersonal posttraumatic processes with interpersonal perspective. The individual’s reactions are analysed in the context of three levels – individual, related to close relationships and sociocultural. The presented research shows that a higher level of social acknowledgement is related to a lower level of PTSD symptoms and contributes to the posttraumatic adaptation. On the other hand, a general lack of social acknowledgement can be a predictor of PTSD symptomatology and should be considered in therapeutic work with patients who experienced traumatic events.

Słowa kluczowe
social acknowledgement, PTSD, reaction to stress, socio-interpersonal model of PTSD, posttraumatic adaptation