Updating a social cognitive model of PTSD: Implications for cross-group PTSD research

This article's purpose is twofold: first, we aim to extend a prior social cognitive model of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on recent research; and second, we use our updated social cognitive model of PTSD to motivate future empirical investigations of group differences in PTSD risk mediated by trustworthiness of social context. We review Sharp and colleagues' developmentally sensitive social cognitive model of PTSD and relate their model to recent advances in the understanding of mentalizing. We focus on how recent research incorporates the effects of social context in the development of individual mentalizing styles. This article suggests that the social cognition-related development of PTSD may be informed not only by a child's caregiving relationships as previously believed, but also by the broader developmental social environment. The proposed extension of Sharp and colleagues' social cognitive model of PTSD suggests that scholarship should consider the effects of ecological factors, such as the trustworthiness of social context, on the risk of developing PTSD. We offer suggestions for future research that consider our updated model.