Examining the relationships between posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and emotion dysregulation using network analysis.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder are commonly comorbid among individuals with a history of trauma exposure, and this comorbidity can have implications for functioning and treatment.There is a substantial amount of prior research examining the co-occurrence of these two diagnoses, though additional investigation into the underlying mechanisms associated with high rates of comorbidity is warranted.The present study examined PTSD symptoms, depression symptoms, and emotion dysregulation in two college student samples using a network analysis approach, which allows for examining the dynamic interplay between symptoms.Study 1 included 410 students with a history of trauma from a large Hispanic-serving institute, and Study 2 included 244 student participants with a history of trauma exposure from a Midwestern public university.Both samples indicated high central strength for the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale's Limited Access to Emotion Regulation Strategies subscale, and this strategies subscale also demonstrated high expected influence in both samples.Results revealed several nonzero regularized partial correlations among PTSD symptom clusters, depression, and emotion dysregulation subscales.These findings supported PTSD and depressive symptoms as distinguishable, though connected, constructs.PTSD's negative alterations in cognition and mood cluster, depression, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Limited Access to Emotion Regulation Strategies subscale seemed important for understanding the comorbidity of these two diagnoses, and therefore the belief that distress is persistent and unchangeable, despite one's actions, may contribute to the development or maintenance of both PTSD and major depressive disorder.