The centrality of event scale: a measure of integrating a trauma into one's identity and its relation to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.

Published

Journal Article

We introduce a new scale that measures how central an event is to a person's identity and life story. For the most stressful or traumatic event in a person's life, the full 20-item Centrality of Event Scale (CES) and the short 7-item scale are reliable (alpha's of .94 and .88, respectively) in a sample of 707 undergraduates. The scale correlates .38 with PTSD symptom severity and .23 with depression. The present findings are discussed in relation to previous work on individual differences related to PTSD symptoms. Possible connections between the CES and measures of maladaptive attributions and rumination are considered along with suggestions for future research.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Berntsen, D; Rubin, DC

Published Date

  • February 2006

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 44 / 2

Start / End Page

  • 219 - 231

PubMed ID

  • 16389062

Pubmed Central ID

  • 16389062

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1873-622X

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0005-7967

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.brat.2005.01.009

Language

  • eng