The impact of social support: An analogue investigation of the aftermath of trauma exposure

Recent meta-analytic studies suggest that social support plays an important role in regulating the severity of post-traumatic adjustment; however, few studies have manipulated potential underlying mechanisms. This analogue study examined how various social reactions, following trauma exposure, influenced subsequent anxiety, affect, and intrusive thoughts. Ninety-three participants viewed a distressing videotape followed by a portrayal of positive, negative, or neutral social reactions. While negative reactions increased initial negative affect, neutral reactions increased later frequency and severity of intrusive thoughts. Based on this, it was suggested that “neutral” social reactions following trauma exposure may have the potential for being highly invalidating and in some circumstances may actually have more negative later effects than overtly negative ones.