Personal and Interpersonal Factors Moderate the Relation Between Human-Made Trauma and Hypertension: A Path Analysis Approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Although the link between trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and hypertension is established, its underlying mechanisms remain underexplored. Objective This study tested a theoretical model exploring the moderating influence of psychological (emotion regulation) and interpersonal (social support) factors on the mediation between trauma and hypertension, through PTSD. Methods We measured these variables through self-reported questionnaire on 212 patients, recruited from internal medicine in a general hospital of Bukavu, a region affected by more than 25 years of armed conflicts. We first evaluated the PTSD mediation in the absence of moderators, before testing each moderator using moderated path analysis. Results Results showed that PTSD partially mediates the relationship between human-made trauma and hypertension, whereas social support and maladaptive emotion regulation moderate the relationship between human-made trauma and PTSD. Conclusions The relationship between human-made trauma, PTSD, and hypertension might be modulated by psychological and interpersonal factors, which paves the way for new interventions targeting emotion regulation and social support to reduce PTSD and hypertension in populations exposed to human-made violence.