Peri-Traumatic Dissociation and Tonic Immobility as Severity Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After Rape

Ricardo A F deMello; Bruno Messina Coimbra; Bianca D M Pedro; Isabella M Benvenutti; Mary S L Yeh; Andrea F Mello; Marcelo F Mello; Dalva R Poyares

doi:10.1177/08862605221114151

Peri-Traumatic Dissociation and Tonic Immobility as Severity Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After Rape

Ricardo A F deMello^*, Bruno Messina Coimbra, Bianca D M Pedro, Isabella M Benvenutti, Mary S L Yeh, Andrea F Mello, Marcelo F Mello, Dalva R Poyares

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Some individuals show abnormal reactions to extreme fear and life-threatening situations, including tonic immobility (TI) and peri-traumatic dissociation (PTD). We aimed to investigate the association of TI and PTD with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women who experienced sexual violence and the risk factors for PTD occurrence. We compared PTSD severity in 86 young adult women with PTSD after a sexual violence exposure grouped according to the presence of PTD and TI. In addition, we investigated whether PTD is associated with depression and anxiety symptoms and assessed potential risk factors for PTD reaction. We found a significant positive correlation between PTSD severity and PTD occurrence (R² =.132; p =.001). PTD was also positively correlated with all clusters of PTSD symptoms except the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale avoidance cluster (p =.058). PTD was strongly correlated with anxiety (R² =.619; p <.001) and depressive symptoms (R² =.547; p <.001). Multiple logistic regression showed that history of physical abuse (odds ratio [OR]: 1.386; p =.011) and sexual abuse (OR: 1.947; p =.004) during childhood were associated with PTD occurrence. Other risk factors for PTD were having less years of study (OR: 0.216; p =.016) and lower income (OR: 7.403; p =.028). TI measures were available for a subsample of 29 women. We found no association between TI and PTSD severity. PTD, but not TI, is significantly associated with more severe PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptoms. Less-educated women with a history of childhood abuse and a lower income are at risk of PTD occurrence during a sexual violence episode.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4240-4266
Number of pages	27
Journal	Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Volume	38
Issue number	3-4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605221114151
Publication status	Published - Feb 2023
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research was sponsored by the FAPESP grant number 2014/12559-5. Additional grant support was provided by CNPq 303389/2016-8. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. The funders had no role in the study design or the decision to publish this article. The authors thank the social workers, psychologists, and gynecologists of Hospital Pérola Byington for their enormous contribution to the development of this research. We gratefully acknowledge UNIFESP team members Cecilia Proença, Cecilia Zylberstajn, Bruna Nicoletta, Thauana Oliveira-Watanabe, Ana Teresa D’Elia, Nina Valente, Luciana Porto, Thays Mello, Euthymia Prado, Rosaly Braga, Samara Hipolito Nitzsche, Flavia Strumpf, Roberta Constantino, Camila Matsuzaka, Nathalia Balloni, Fernanda Gomes, Tania Camargo, Adriana Mozzambani, Paula Maria Serafim, Magda Bignotto, Mary Yeh, Ana Carolina Milani, Vinicius Calsavara, and Fernando Rodrigues Grecco. We also thank Dr. Rachel E. Williamson of the University of Montana, Missoula, U.S., for revising the manuscript. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research was sponsored by the FAPESP grant number 2014/12559-5. Additional grant support was provided by CNPq 303389/2016-8. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. The funders had no role in the study design or the decision to publish this article.

Funders	Funder number
Ana Carolina Milani
Vinicius Calsavara
University of Montana
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo	2014/12559-5
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico	303389/2016-8

Keywords

Anxiety
Anxiety Disorders
Child
Female
Humans
Rape
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/epidemiology
Violence
Young Adult

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1177/08862605221114151

Cite this

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title = "Peri-Traumatic Dissociation and Tonic Immobility as Severity Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After Rape",

abstract = "Some individuals show abnormal reactions to extreme fear and life-threatening situations, including tonic immobility (TI) and peri-traumatic dissociation (PTD). We aimed to investigate the association of TI and PTD with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women who experienced sexual violence and the risk factors for PTD occurrence. We compared PTSD severity in 86 young adult women with PTSD after a sexual violence exposure grouped according to the presence of PTD and TI. In addition, we investigated whether PTD is associated with depression and anxiety symptoms and assessed potential risk factors for PTD reaction. We found a significant positive correlation between PTSD severity and PTD occurrence (R2 =.132; p =.001). PTD was also positively correlated with all clusters of PTSD symptoms except the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale avoidance cluster (p =.058). PTD was strongly correlated with anxiety (R2 =.619; p <.001) and depressive symptoms (R2 =.547; p <.001). Multiple logistic regression showed that history of physical abuse (odds ratio [OR]: 1.386; p =.011) and sexual abuse (OR: 1.947; p =.004) during childhood were associated with PTD occurrence. Other risk factors for PTD were having less years of study (OR: 0.216; p =.016) and lower income (OR: 7.403; p =.028). TI measures were available for a subsample of 29 women. We found no association between TI and PTSD severity. PTD, but not TI, is significantly associated with more severe PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptoms. Less-educated women with a history of childhood abuse and a lower income are at risk of PTD occurrence during a sexual violence episode.",

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year = "2023",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1177/08862605221114151",

language = "English",

volume = "38",

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AU - deMello, Ricardo A F

AU - Coimbra, Bruno Messina

AU - Pedro, Bianca D M

AU - Benvenutti, Isabella M

AU - Yeh, Mary S L

AU - Mello, Andrea F

AU - Mello, Marcelo F

AU - Poyares, Dalva R

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.

PY - 2023/2

Y1 - 2023/2

N2 - Some individuals show abnormal reactions to extreme fear and life-threatening situations, including tonic immobility (TI) and peri-traumatic dissociation (PTD). We aimed to investigate the association of TI and PTD with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women who experienced sexual violence and the risk factors for PTD occurrence. We compared PTSD severity in 86 young adult women with PTSD after a sexual violence exposure grouped according to the presence of PTD and TI. In addition, we investigated whether PTD is associated with depression and anxiety symptoms and assessed potential risk factors for PTD reaction. We found a significant positive correlation between PTSD severity and PTD occurrence (R2 =.132; p =.001). PTD was also positively correlated with all clusters of PTSD symptoms except the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale avoidance cluster (p =.058). PTD was strongly correlated with anxiety (R2 =.619; p <.001) and depressive symptoms (R2 =.547; p <.001). Multiple logistic regression showed that history of physical abuse (odds ratio [OR]: 1.386; p =.011) and sexual abuse (OR: 1.947; p =.004) during childhood were associated with PTD occurrence. Other risk factors for PTD were having less years of study (OR: 0.216; p =.016) and lower income (OR: 7.403; p =.028). TI measures were available for a subsample of 29 women. We found no association between TI and PTSD severity. PTD, but not TI, is significantly associated with more severe PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptoms. Less-educated women with a history of childhood abuse and a lower income are at risk of PTD occurrence during a sexual violence episode.

AB - Some individuals show abnormal reactions to extreme fear and life-threatening situations, including tonic immobility (TI) and peri-traumatic dissociation (PTD). We aimed to investigate the association of TI and PTD with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women who experienced sexual violence and the risk factors for PTD occurrence. We compared PTSD severity in 86 young adult women with PTSD after a sexual violence exposure grouped according to the presence of PTD and TI. In addition, we investigated whether PTD is associated with depression and anxiety symptoms and assessed potential risk factors for PTD reaction. We found a significant positive correlation between PTSD severity and PTD occurrence (R2 =.132; p =.001). PTD was also positively correlated with all clusters of PTSD symptoms except the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale avoidance cluster (p =.058). PTD was strongly correlated with anxiety (R2 =.619; p <.001) and depressive symptoms (R2 =.547; p <.001). Multiple logistic regression showed that history of physical abuse (odds ratio [OR]: 1.386; p =.011) and sexual abuse (OR: 1.947; p =.004) during childhood were associated with PTD occurrence. Other risk factors for PTD were having less years of study (OR: 0.216; p =.016) and lower income (OR: 7.403; p =.028). TI measures were available for a subsample of 29 women. We found no association between TI and PTSD severity. PTD, but not TI, is significantly associated with more severe PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptoms. Less-educated women with a history of childhood abuse and a lower income are at risk of PTD occurrence during a sexual violence episode.

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ER -

Peri-Traumatic Dissociation and Tonic Immobility as Severity Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After Rape

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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