Gender Role Conflict, Emotion Regulation, and PTSD Symptom Severity in Acutely Injured Trauma Survivors

Abstract

Within the acutely injured population, men are at an increased risk for trauma exposure and hospitalization. Previous literature has suggested that emotional dysregulation and masculine gender roles are associated with psychological distress and maintenance of PTSD symptoms. Despite these findings, researchers have focused their attention on masculine gender roles within the Veteran and college populations. The current study aimed to assess the Gender Role Conflict within the acutely injured population and determine if emotion regulation strategy moderated the relationship between masculine gender roles and PTSD symptom severity. Participants consisted of 90 traumatically injured, cisgender males (Mage= 44.88 years; 60% White) who were recruited from a large Midwest Level 1 Trauma Center. Findings suggest a significant positive association between Conflict Between Work and Family (CBWFR) and PTSD symptom severity (p = .001) and Restricted Emotionality (RE) and PTSD symptom severity (p =.040). Despite these significant associations, emotion regulation did not significantly moderate the relationship between Gender Role Conflict and PTSD symptom severity. Results and treatment implications are discussed.