TY - JOUR
T1 - Early Linguistic Markers of Trauma-Specific Processing Predict Post-trauma Adjustment
AU - Kleim, Birgit
AU - Horn, Andrea B.
AU - Kraehenmann, Rainer
AU - Mehl, Matthias R.
AU - Ehlers, Anke
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Laure Coates and Linda Horrell for their help with narrative transcription. Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Birgit Kleim, Department of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Lenggstrasse 31, CH-8032 Zurich, Switzerland. Email: [email protected], Phone: (+41) 44-635 7377. Funding. The study was funded by grants from the Psychiatry Research Trust and the Wellcome Trust (grant 069777). BK and AH were funded by grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation (PZ00P1_126597, PZ00P1_150812 to BK, PMPDP1_164470 to AH).
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2018 Kleim, Horn, Kraehenmann, Mehl and Ehlers.
PY - 2018/12/5
Y1 - 2018/12/5
N2 - Identifying early predictors for psychiatric disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is crucial for effective treatment and prevention efforts. Obtaining such predictors is challenging and methodologically limited, for example by individuals' distress, arousal, and reduced introspective ability. We investigated the predictive power of language-based, implicit markers of psychological processes (N = 163) derived from computerized text-analysis of trauma and control narratives provided within 18 days post-trauma. Trauma narratives with fewer cognitive processing words (indicating less cognitive elaboration), more death-related words (indicating perceived threat to life), and more first-person singular pronouns (indicating self-immersed processing) predicted greater PTSD symptoms at 6 months. These effects were specific to trauma narratives and held after controlling for early PTSD symptom severity and verbal intelligence. When self-report questionnaires of related processes were considered together with the trauma narrative linguistic predictors, use of more first-person singular pronouns remained a significant predictor alongside self-reported mental defeat. Language-based processing markers may complement questionnaire measures in early forecasting of post-trauma adjustment.
AB - Identifying early predictors for psychiatric disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is crucial for effective treatment and prevention efforts. Obtaining such predictors is challenging and methodologically limited, for example by individuals' distress, arousal, and reduced introspective ability. We investigated the predictive power of language-based, implicit markers of psychological processes (N = 163) derived from computerized text-analysis of trauma and control narratives provided within 18 days post-trauma. Trauma narratives with fewer cognitive processing words (indicating less cognitive elaboration), more death-related words (indicating perceived threat to life), and more first-person singular pronouns (indicating self-immersed processing) predicted greater PTSD symptoms at 6 months. These effects were specific to trauma narratives and held after controlling for early PTSD symptom severity and verbal intelligence. When self-report questionnaires of related processes were considered together with the trauma narrative linguistic predictors, use of more first-person singular pronouns remained a significant predictor alongside self-reported mental defeat. Language-based processing markers may complement questionnaire measures in early forecasting of post-trauma adjustment.
KW - cognitive processing
KW - early predictors
KW - linguistic
KW - LIWC
KW - post-traumatic stress disorder
KW - text analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118868548&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00645
DO - 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00645
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85118868548
SN - 1664-0640
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Psychiatry
JF - Frontiers in Psychiatry
M1 - 645
ER -
