Vulnerability and resilience factors of PTSD: the role of temperament

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The studies on posttraumatic stress disorder identified several vulnerability vs resilience factors operating in pre-, peri- and posttraumatic periods (e.g. personality, previous traumatization, severity of exposure, experienced dissociation and emotions, received social support). The focus of this lecture will be on temperamental traits involved in development of symptoms of PTSD. Temperamental traits were studied according to Regulative Theory of Temperament (RTT), that considers temperament as biological part of personality. The results of studies done in several groups of trauma survivors: flood, home-fire, motor vehicle accidents as well as firefighters and military operations veterans, in cross-sectional and prospective paradigm will be summarized. The analyses showed that among temperamental traits emotional reactivity is the strongest predictor of developing PTSD symptoms, and other peri and posttraumatic phenomena related to trauma like emotions, cognitions, emotion regulation/coping strategies, etc. The recent study on effectiveness of intervention aimed on PTSD prevention in firefighters resulted in data additionally supporting the previous conclusions. Emotional reactivity remains a risk factor for PTSD due to job related traumatization in a group without training, but also in a group that completed the prevention training (and demonstrated reduced risk for PTSD). The role of biological personality factors will be discussed in the context of modern conceptualization of posttraumatic stress disorder, essential for treatment and prevention planning.