THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEASURES TO ASSESS TRAUMATIC APPRAISAL (STRESS)
Abstract
This study attempts to provide an answer to the question, "Who is at risk for traumatization following a highly stressful event (HSE)?" by developing two measures of primary and secondary appraisal. Primary appraisal involves the significance of the event to one's well-being. Secondary appraisal involves the evaluation of one's resources to cope with the event and its aftermath. The measures are called the Primary Appraisal of Traumatization Test (PATT) and the Secondary Appraisal of Traumatization Test (SATT). These measures can be used for research and intervention purposes (e.g., identifying survivors at risk and in assessing survivors in therapy). The sample consisted of 281 college students, mean age was 20 years. Two hundred and twenty-five or 80% experienced a HSE. Of these HSE survivors, 50% experienced unexpected and early death of a family member or close friend. Thirty percent of them experienced acute and serious illness or injury requiring hospitalization. The remaining 20% of survivors experienced one of the following events: natural disaster, fire, assault/mugging, rape, child sexual abuse, or physical abuse. These events were designated in the instructions, and respondents circled if they experienced one. Fifty-six respondents or 20% only experienced a minor illness and served as controls. The 225 HSE respondents completed the PATT and SATT twice, once based on their HSE and again based on a minor illness The PATT and SATT were found to possess internal consistency reliability, .61 and .74, respectively. Their modest reliabilities suggest that the primary and secondary appraisals may not be particularly summative, which is consistent with theory. Most PATT and SATT items discriminated a HSE from a minor illness in both control groups. The PATT and SATT were found to possess indices of convergent validity including PTSD symptomology measures. Discriminant validity was established for the PATT, indicating it is not related to general distress, but it was not as clearly established for the SATT. Differences in appraisals were found between type of events. Finally a content analysis of open-ended items revealed similarities with PATT and SATT items.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Psychological tests
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