Ruminations and effects of trauma in women experiencing domestic violence

Abstract

The study aimed to establish the relationship between ruminations and the occurrence of negative (posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms) and positive (posttraumatic growth) effects of trauma resulting from the experience of violence in the family. The data of 89 women who have experienced domestic violence were analyzed. The participants' age ranged from 18 to 60 years (M = 34.36, SD = 12.81). The following Polish versions of standardized tools were used: The Impact of Event Scale, the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and the Event-Related Rumination Inventory, the last of these measuring two types of ruminations: intrusive and deliberate. Both types of ruminations proved to be associated, above all, with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Weaker associations were noted between the intensity of deliberate ruminations and posttraumatic growth. Intrusive ruminations played a predictive role with regard to posttraumatic stress disorder: Above all, with regard to intrusion and arousal; deliberate ruminations proved to be a predictor of posttraumatic growth, mainly positive changes in self-perception and relations with others. Ruminations play an essential role in the occurrence of both negative and positive outcomes of the experienced trauma.