Past Trauma and Current College Adjustment

Katelin WagonerAnderson University

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PTSD: National Center for PTSD (2014)

Literature Review

Past Traumatic Event• Causes physical, emotional, psychological distress, or harm. • Perceived and experienced as a threat to one's safety or to

the stability of one's world.• Early life trauma

College Adjustment• Ability to have and maintain a social network• Displaying active coping behaviors• Having an overall positive outlook on their life situation.• Factors contributing to college adjustment

Pennebaker, J.W., Colder, M., & Sharp, L.K. (1990);

Gerdes and Mallinckrodt (1993)Grasso, (2013);

Kaneshiro (2014);

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Literature Review

Trauma and College Adjustment• Anxiety and Depression• Current traumatic events vs Past traumatic events • Life event exposure• Current research is mixed

Andrews and Wilding (2004);

Anders, Frazier, and Shallcross (2012)

Galatzer-Levy, Burton, and Bonnano (2012);

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Hypothesis

Participants who report experiencing a past trauma will have a lower college adjustment score than those who have not experienced a past trauma.

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Method: Participants

• Liberal Arts college in the Midwest• Various undergraduate classes from Psychology and Sociology

Departments• Compensation

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Method: Materials

Demographic Information• Age• Gender• Year in school• Commuter student; yes/no

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Method: Materials

The College Adjustment Test (Pennebaker, 1990)• 19 item, Likert-type: 1 (not at all)

to 7 (a great deal)• Sample Items

• "Worried about being in college in general"

• "Felt optimistic about your future at college“

• “Felt lonely"

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Method: Materials

The College Adjustment Test (Cont.)• 3 Subscales

• College having a positive effect • College having a negative effect • Homesickness

• Combined for a total college adjustment score (19 - 133)• Reliability

• Cronbach α = .79 • Two-month test-retest r = .65

Pennebaker, J.W., Colder, M., & Sharp, L.K. (1990)

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Method: Materials

Trauma Inventory• Yes/No• Asked to rate severity of event

• Likert scale: 1 (not very severe) to 5 (extremely severe)

• Asked to rate anxiety levels at 6 weeks after event and at 6 months after event• Likert scale: 1 (little to no

anxiety) to 5 (high anxiety)

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Method: Procedure 11

Informed Consent

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Demographic Info

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The CAT

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Trauma Inventory

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Counseling Services Info

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Sign Up Sheet for Compensation

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Results: Demographics

Age• M=20.3• SD=3.9

Year• 33.3% Freshman• 24.7% Sophomore• 19.7% Junior• 18.7% Senior

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Results: Demographics

Gender• 29.3% Male• 67.2%

Female

Commuter Students• 17.7% Yes• 78.3% No

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Results: Trauma

• No Trauma – 41.9%• Trauma – 54.5%

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Results: Hypothesis

H: Participants who report experiencing a past trauma will have a lower college adjustment score than those who have not experienced a past trauma.

• Not supported• CAT scores for the no trauma group (M = 83.2, SD = 14.4) • CAT scores for the trauma group (M = 81.9, SD = 14.5)• t(187) = .63, p = .53

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Results: Follow Up 16

Positive Affect and Anxietyr=-2.31, p<.05• Liked classes, roommates,

social life, college in general

• Felt optimistic about future in college, and felt good about oneself

Results: Follow Up

Age and Trauma/No Traumar=.23, p<.001

Age and Anxiety at 6 mos.r=.28, p<.01

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Results: Follow Up

Gender and Anxiety - 6 wks.r=.26, p<.01

Gender and Anxiety - 6 mos.r= .24, p<.05

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Limitations

• Past Trauma

• Trauma Inventory

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Implications and Future Research

• Trauma and AU students

• Same research; different schools

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ReferencesAnders, S. L., Frazier, P. A., & Shallcross, S. L. (2012). Prevalence and effects of life event exposure

among undergraduate and community college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59, 449-457. doi:10.1037/a0027753

Andrews, B., & Wilding, J. M. (2004). The relation of depression and anxiety to life-stress and achievement in students. British Journal of Psychology, 95, 509–521.

Galatzer-Levy, I. R., Burton, C. L., & Bonanno, G. A. (2012). Coping flexibility, potentially traumatic life events, and resilience: A prospective study of college student adjustment. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 31, 542-567.

Grasso, D., Ford, J., & Briggs-Gowan, M. (2013). Early Life Trauma Exposure and Stress Sensitivity in Young Children. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 38, 94-103. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jss101

Kaneshiro, N. (2014, April 14). Traumatic events. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://umm.edu/health/medical/ency/articles/traumatic-events

PTSD: National Center for PTSD. (2014, November 10). Retrieved March 8, 2015.

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