Cognitive fusion potentiates the effect of maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions on posttraumatic stress symptoms

Maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions are considered an important factor in conceptualizing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Specifically, negative beliefs about self, the world, and self-blame regarding the traumatic event are all associated with more severe PTSD symptoms and are targets of cognitive treatments of PTSD (e.g., cognitive processing therapy). However, there may be important, related psychological constructs to consider when examining the relationship between maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD. Cognitive fusion, or the entanglement with one's thoughts such that they are interpreted literally, may be one such construct. The current study examined the moderating role of cognitive fusion on the relationship between maladaptive post-traumatic cognitions (i.e., negative beliefs about self, world, and self-blame) and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms in a trauma-exposed sample of community adults (N = 812). Hierarchical regression with simple slopes analysis was used to assess four proposed interactions. The only difference between models is that a different post-traumatic cognition variable served as the predictor variable in each model (i.e., using a posttraumatic cognitions total score and also examining the three domain-specific factors). Results indicated that cognitive fusion moderated the relationship between maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions (i.e., the total score and two of three domain-specific factors) and PTS such that the deleterious relationship between maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions and PTS symptoms was stronger for those who were more highly fused to their cognitions.