2020/11/23 by Alessandro Massazza, Chris R. Brewin, Helene Joffe +1
Psychology · #Child Abuse and Trauma #Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research #Resilience and Mental Health
paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/1049732320968791
openalex publication_date 2020/11/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during traumatic events, that is, peritraumatic reactions, are key to post-trauma psychopathology development. Qualitative research is required to investigate whether existing quantitative methods capture the range and complexity of peritraumatic reactions as described by survivors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 104 earthquake survivors. Participants reported experiencing various peritraumatic reactions ( M = 21, range = 6–43). The survivors’ accounts confirmed presence and overall phenomenological characteristics of commonly studied peritraumatic reactions such as dissociation, distress, mental defeat, and immobility. In addition, novel and understudied reactions were identified: cognitive overload, hyperfocus, and emotion regulation, as well as positive affect. Finally, a number of cross-cutting phenomena were identified such as the social nature of many reactions and survivors evaluating their reactions as difficult to put into words. These findings have implications for the conceptualization of peritraumatic reactions, for trauma-focused psychotherapeutic interventions, and for the wellbeing of disaster survivors.