Literature Review Blog #3

(1) Visual. A picture of the book or (only if such a picture is not available or if it is an article) a relevant picture, such as a photo of the author or something related to the subject. An embedded video (such as of an author interview) can also fulfill this requirement.

Image result for ptsd

(2) Citation. Provide full citation in MLA format.


Dunmore, Dunmore, et al. “Cognitive Factors Involved in the Onset and Maintenance of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after Physical or Sexual Assault.”BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH AND THERAPY, vol. 37, no. 9, 12 Sept. 1998, pp. 809–829., ac.els-cdn.com/S0005796798001818/1-s2.0-S0005796798001818-main.pdf?_tid=8021e0d8-b8d5-11e7-80b5-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1508861457_c151f4750e667748a186752fd495d307.


(3) Summary. Provide a brief summary as to what the reading is about.

This article describes a study of the influence of the development and maintenance of PTSD after a physical or sexual assault. It's the cognitive factors and it goes into the cognitive theory of the effects.  To establish the data for the article, 92 victims had completed questionnaires that assessed a variety of cognitive variables. Victims who did and did not suffer from PTSD were compared to investigate the onset of PTSD and victims who recovered from PTSD were compared to victims who has persistent PTSD were compared to investigate the factors related to the maintenance of PTSD. It was found that persistent cognitive factors associated with onset and maintenance of PTSD were the feeling of defeat,  confusion and avoidance. The cognitive factors victims can identify themselves with are a sense of continuous threat and this threat prevents the strategies of recovery.

(4) Author(s). Give some information on the author(s). What makes him/her knowledgeable on the topic? 

Emma Dunmore studied at Leeds Beckett University, where she gained expertise in Behavioral Science, Health Psychology, and Clinical Psychology during her years there. She's conducted much research and has based many articles on said research, regarding the topic of post traumatic stress disorder. David M. Clark is a psychologist who is a professor of Psychology at the University of Oxford and he is a National Clinical Adviser at the Department of Health. He focuses his research on mental health and he has used Cognitive Therapy on those who suffer from PTSD. Similarly, Anke Ehlers is also a psychologist at the University of Oxford and she's also used Cognitive Therapy on those who suffer from PTSD. She has expertise in Abnormal Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Emotion. All of these credentials make these authors credible to speak on this topic because their fields and areas of research coincide with sexual assault and the effects of the incident. 


(5) Key terms. Define at least two key terms or key concepts used in the piece.

Cognitive factors - characteristics of the person that affect performance and learning; they may improve or decline performance; cognitive factors include attention, memory and reasoning

Paradoxical effect - aeffect of medical treatment opposite to the effect which would normally be expected; i.e. a paradoxical reaction is pain caused by a pain relief medication


(6) Quotes. Give three quotations pertaining to your topic, with page reference. 

"Cognitive factors associated with both onset and maintenance of PTSD were: appraisal of aspects of the assault itself (mental defeat, mental confusion, appraisal of emotions); appraisal of the sequelae of the assault (appraisal of symptoms, perceived negative responses of others, permanent change); dysfunctional strategies (avoidance/safety seeking)..." (page 809)

"Factors associated with onset and pe
rsistence of PTSD were mental defeat, mental confusion, negative appraisal of emotions, negative appraisal of symptoms, perceived negative responses from others, permanent change, avoidance/safety behaviours, global beliefs before and after assault and change in beliefs" (page 824-825)


"Whilst detachment during a trauma has sometimes been considered to be an adaptive response to an uncontrollable situation, the findings of the current study indicate that the opposite may be the case...Individuals who detached may go on to recover if they subsequently allow themselves to process the traumatic event, but if they continue to try to detach themselves from trauma related thoughts and feelings they are likely to suffer persisting PTSD" (827)

(7) Value. Explicitly explain how this material helps you to explore your research question.

I actually gained a lot of insight from this study because victims of sexual assault often try to push the memory back as a defense mechanism of not dealing with it.  College students especially may do this with a lot already on their plate with something such as school or work.  This may essentially be doing more harm than good according to this study because those who detach may actually be persisting the factors that lead to PTSD. This article not just speaks about the effects of sexual assault being PTSD, but it compares onset and persistent - depending how the victim reacted to the incident determines this. It explores a different part of my research question by bringing light to different mechanisms victims make take to heal, and the effects and consequences of those mechanisms.

Comments

  1. This is useful. Ideally, if you can find the story of a particular survivor who experienced PTSD type symptoms, that would really help you demonstrate your argument.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Possible sources would be women's blogs, news stories, magazine articles, etc. I turned up quite a few things with a quick search:
    https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/ptsd-after-rape
    http://www.ptsdchick.com/about/

    ReplyDelete

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