The impact of past trauma on psychological distress among Chinese students: The roles of cognitive distortion and alexithymia.

Highlights • Chinese students can develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following trauma. • PTSD from past trauma is associated with increased psychiatric co-morbidities. • Both distorted cognition and alexithymia mediate the association between PTSD and distress. • The severity of distress is influenced by the degree of distorted cognitions. • Distress severity is affected by the ability to identify, describe, and process emotions. Abstract Past traumatic events are distressing experiences which can result in the emergence of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and other psychological symptoms among university students. However, little is known as to whether or not cognitive distortion and alexithymia would influence the severity of these distress outcomes. This study examined a cognitive-emotional framework depicting potential roles that cognitive distortion and alexithymia could play in influencing the relationship between past trauma and psychiatric co-morbidities among university students in China. One thousand one hundred and eleven participants completed the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, Cognitive Distortion Scale (CDS), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Results indicated that PTSD following past trauma was significantly associated with increased psychiatric co-morbidities after controlling for covariates. Both alexithymia and distorted cognition mediated the association between PTSD and psychiatric co-morbidities. To conclude, university students can develop PTSD from past trauma and other mental health problems. The severity of psychological distress can be influenced by their distorted perceptions of themselves, the world, and the future, as well as their ability to identify, describe, and express distressing emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]