Suppressing Traumatic Material

Roemer, Lizabeth

Abstract

The proposed study will begin a program of research designed to explore factors that enhance or inhibit successful emotional processing of traumatic information, beginning with a focus on motivated suppression of traumatic material. Extant theories of post-traumatic stress propose that avoidance of traumatic reminders interferes with successful processing of the traumatic event, causing the emotionality and accessibility of the memory to remain unaltered. However, these theories do not address whether avoidance may also directly cause memories to become more accessible and emotionally distressing. Experimental research on the ironic process of mental control indicates that such a causal relationship may exist: suppression instructions result in increased accessibility and negative affect associated with the forbidden material. The present investigation will explore the clinical applicability of these findings by examining the impact of suppressing thoughts of a rape- related article among rape survivors. Sixty female rape survivors will read a news article describing several sexual assaults. Half will then be instructed to suppress thoughts of the story while the other half are given instructions that permit thoughts of the story. Accessibility of rape-related thoughts will be measured by comparing latencies to color-naming rape related versus neutral words in the modified Stroop task. Rape-related emotional distress will be assessed by comparing self-report and heart rate responses during the initial reading of the rape article to those responses while reading the rape article following the experimental manipulation. It is predicted that suppression instructions will increase accessibility and emotional distress associated with rape-related material. These findings will have implications for devising effective early intervention strategies for trauma-exposed individuals.