Category: Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders and Disasters
Carter Bedford, PhD
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
Tracy Witte, Ph.D.
Auburn University
Auburn University, Alabama
Carter Bedford, PhD
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
Danielle Morabito, M.S.
Doctoral student
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
Min Eun Jeon, M.A.
Doctoral Student and Joiner Lab Supervisor
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
Marielle Gomez, B.S.
Joiner Lab Manager
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
Despite a substantial body of literature on the etiology and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), research on the experiences of individuals with marginalized or at-risk identities has been limited. The understudied nature of these populations presents a significant problem for the field. Extant research suggests that marginalized groups such as people of color (POC) and members of the LGBTQ+ community are at increased risk for trauma exposure and subsequent PTSD, while also being less likely to initiate or receive a full dose of evidence-based treatment for their trauma-related symptoms (McClendon et al., 2020; Whaibeh et al., 2020). Therefore, it is critically important to examine individual differences in the development and symptom presentation of PTSD. An increased understanding of these differences will inform the development of novel treatment approaches that meet the needs of diverse, vulnerable populations.
This presentation examines the intersection of identity factors and traumatic stress in several samples of at-risk or marginalized individuals. The first presentation focuses on differential experiences of psychopathology between LGBTQ-identified and cisgender-heterosexual survivors of sexual assault. The second presentation describes associations between age, occupational stress, and PTSD symptoms in a sample of firefighters. The third presentation provides an overview of a moderated network model examining the structure of PTSD symptoms between individuals who identified as POC versus individuals who identified as white. Similarly, the fourth presentation describes the network structure of PTSD symptoms in a sample of Latina women who experienced sexual violence. The contribution of these findings to our understanding of PTSD and their implications for the development of novel treatment approaches will be discussed by a distinguished researcher with experience studying individual differences in suicidality and PTSD.
Presenter: Carter E. Bedford, PhD – Florida State University
Co-author: Aoife Trotter, High School Diploma – Florida State University
Co-author: Norman Schmidt, Ph.D. – Florida State University
Presenter: Danielle M. Morabito, M.S. – Florida State University
Co-author: Savannah J. Woller, B.S. – Florida State University
Co-author: Norman Schmidt, Ph.D. – Florida State University
Co-author: Anka A. Vujanovic, Ph.D. – University of Houston - Department of Psychology
Presenter: Min Eun Jeon, M.A. – Florida State University
Co-author: Lee Robertson, PhD – Florida state University
Co-author: Marielle Gomez, B.S. – Florida State University
Co-author: Thomas Joiner, Ph.D. – Florida state University
Presenter: Marielle Gomez, B.S. – Florida State University
Co-author: Michelle Jeon, M.A. – Florida state university
Co-author: Thomas Joiner, Ph.D. – Florida state University