Negative and positive effects of exposition to trauma among soldiers participating in military missions – the role of rumination

Purpose: The study aimed was to establish in what extend in soldiers participating in military missions occur the negative and positive effects of trauma exposition and what is the role of rumination.

Methods: The results of 60 soldiers who experienced traumatic events during the mission were analyzed. The age of the participants ranged from 26 to 46 years (M = 33.17, SD = 4.84). The following Polish versions of standardized tools were used: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire – K-PTSD, the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory – PTG and the Event Related Rumination Inventory – ERRI, measuring two types of ruminations: intrusive and deliberate.

Results: Ten percent of respondents revealed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the remaining 90% – symptoms of its syndrome. The level of posttraumatic growth (PTG) is low. Both types of ruminations, ie. intrusive and deliberate proved to be positively associated with PTSD, wherein the predictive role play largely intrusive ruminations. Deliberate ruminations correlate with posttraumatic growth. They also proved to be predictors of the three areas of PTG, i.e. changes in self-perception, relations with others and appreciating of life.

Conclusions: Ruminations favor the occurrence both negative and positive consequences of experienced traumatic events.