Internalizing and externalizing subtypes in female sexual assault survivors: implications for the understanding of complex PTSD

Behav Ther. 2007 Mar;38(1):58-71. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2006.04.003. Epub 2006 Sep 25.

Abstract

This study replicated and extended findings of internalizing and externalizing subtypes of posttraumatic psychopathology (Miller, M. W., Greif, J. L., & Smith, A. A. (2003). Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire profiles of veterans with traumatic combat exposure: Internalizing and externalizing subtypes. Psychological Assessment, 15, 205-215; Miller, M. W., Kaloupek, D. G., Dillon, A. L., & Keane, T.M. (2004). Externalizing and internalizing subtypes of combat-related PTSD: A replication and extension using the PSY-5 Scales. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 636-645) to a female sample of rape survivors with chronic PTSD. Cluster analyses of Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (Clark, L. A. (1996). SNAP-Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality: Manual for administration, scoring, and interpretation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.) temperament scale profiles from 143 women with PTSD partitioned the sample into a simple PTSD cluster, defined by normal range personality scores and moderate symptomatology, and 2 more "complex" clusters distinguished by more severe tendencies towards externalizing or internalizing psychopathology. Externalizers were characterized by disinhibition, substance dependence, and Cluster B personality disorder features; internalizers by low positive temperament, high rates of major depressive disorder, and elevations on measures of schizoid and avoidant personality disorder.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Affective Symptoms / diagnosis
  • Affective Symptoms / epidemiology
  • Affective Symptoms / psychology
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / methods*
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Rape / psychology*
  • Rape / statistics & numerical data*
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / epidemiology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / etiology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / therapy
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Survivors / psychology*
  • Survivors / statistics & numerical data*
  • Temperament