The Impact of Centrality of Event on Trauma Outcomes

The centrality of a traumatic event to an individual’s sense of self has been linked to individual trauma outcomes. The current literature review seeks identify the impact of event centrality on individual trauma outcomes. Research suggests that event centrality is related to both post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and post traumatic growth (PTG). The Centrality of Events Scale is a metric developed to rate event centrality which has displayed replicated validity in various sample groups. This measure is compared to other ratings including those of PTSS, depression, anxiety, and general psychological wellbeing. Data collected in the current review supports the significance of event centrality in trauma outcomes and does not rule out the moderating or mediating effects of other factors like type of traumatic event, coping ability, and ruminative thought. Trauma type has been cited as an impactful aspect of central trauma outcomes, highlighting sexual trauma as especially correlated with both centrality and PTSD. Adaptive coping ability has been correlated with centrality and PTG, and inversely correlated with PTSS. Ruminative thought is tied to centrality in both PTSS and PTG outcomes. Deliberate rumination has been positively correlated with PTG outcomes, where intrusive rumination has been found to correlate with PTSS. Further investigation of cognitive correlates to trauma outcomes and greater understanding of the impact and mechanisms of centrality has the potential to aid treatment for survivors. Current data suggests cognitive therapies including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy could be effective in treating trauma-related symptomology.