Rethinking Cognitions: The Relation between Negative Posttraumatic Cognitions and Posttraumatic Stress among Palestinian Refugees

Background: Palestinian Refugees live under extremely challenging circumstances, with negative future prospects, where negative cognitions are likely. Posttraumatic Negative Cognitions (PTNC) are important for the development, persistence and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is uncertain if findings on the relation between NPTC and PTSD can be generalized to the Palestinian Refugee context.

Objective: The first objective is to establish if PTNC on ‘oneself’ (SELF), ‘the world’ (WORLD) and ‘self-blame’ (BLAME) explain variance in PTSD symptomatology. The second objective is to examine if these cognitions are predictive for PTSD classification.

Method: Palestinian refugees (N = 85, 51.8% female) were administered the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. Multiple and logistic regression analysis were performed.

Results: SELF (p < .001) and BLAME (p < .029) explained significant variance in PTSD symptoms, however findings for BLAME indicated a suppressive role for PTSD. Findings for WORLD (p < .148) were not significant. SELF (p < .002) was the only subscale with significant predictive value for PTSD classification.

Conclusions: Findings outline the relevance of contextual factors for the interplay between NPTC and PTSD. This is especially relevant for researchers and clinicians working with refugees in conflict areas.