Cognitive control and PTSD in female victims of abuse and assault: A mediational model with racial differences

Prior research has established a relationship between control-related beliefs and PTSD symptom severity. In addition, research suggests that individuals with a history of childhood sexual abuse or prior adult sexual victimization are more vulnerable to severe reactions following adult sexual victimization than individuals with no history of sexual victimization. The author of the present study proposed that control-related beliefs mediate the relationship between history of child abuse and PTSD symptom severity following the experience of sexual or physical assault as an adult. Participants in the present study were adult females with histories of child abuse and/or sexual or physical assault in adulthood. The role of perceived controllability as a partial mediator between trauma and PTSD symptom severity was only partly supported. Results showed that trauma history was related to locus of control for Caucasians, but not for African Americans.