Cognitive Factors in Adjustment to Social Trauma (360G-Wellcome-205156_Z_16_Z)

Socially traumatic events that may include rejection or humiliation in the context of bullying can have lasting and debilitating psychological effects. This project will investigate the nature of these effects, explore maintaining mechanisms of psychopathology, and develop and pilot a specific intervention to improve functioning in adults suffering after experiencing social trauma. It will build on cognitive models and existing treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD). First, there will be a detailed investigation of social trauma and its effects in young people using surveys, interviews, and secondary analyses of cohort data. Negative effects may include intrusive memories, negative appraisals of self and others, safety behaviours, and disrupted post-event processing. The nature of psychopathology related to social trauma will be validated against existing measures of PTSD, SAD, and depression. A series of experimental studies on appraisals of social threat and qualities of social interactions will distinguish those struggling more and less severely after social trauma and fulfil the second goal of identifying maintaining mechanisms. The final goal is to develop and evaluate a procedure for updating problematic social trauma memories in a pilot case series. Overall, this project will help improve psychological treatments following social trauma.