The Relationship Between PTSD Symptom Factors and Emotion

The relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom factors and two facets of emotion were examined.. Emotional congruence effects were examined using an affective priming word pronunciation (naming) task, and negative affect was measured using self-report. Current PTSD symptoms were assessed using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale in 95 adults with trauma histories. Two alternative PTSD symptom factor structures were examined, one of which included an emotional numbing factor, and one of which included a dysphoria factor. Emotional congruence effects were significantly associated with an emotional numbing factor, but not with any other PTSD factors. Negative affect was significantly associated with a dysphoria factor, but not with any other PTSD factors.