Pace Psychology Professor Finds Potential Benefits of Acute Stress

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y., Sept. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In times of great tragedy, it is often difficult to look for the silver lining, but Pace University's Dyson College psychology professor Anthony Mancini, PhD, has done just that for survivors. Mancini has just published an article on his research on human resilience in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings.

Mancini, Department of Psychology, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Pace Pleasantville campus, and co-authors Heather L. Littleton, Department of Psychology, East Carolina University and Amie E. Grills, Boston University, found that trauma can sometimes improve or heal pre-existing anxiety or depression.

Their study of 368 female students at Virginia Tech, who completed assessments on psychological well-being before and then three times in the year after the shootings, revealed that some of the survivors who were struggling before were actually thriving after.  This phenomenon of psychological improvement is distinct from posttraumatic growth, which proposes that being traumatized can eventually result in perceptions of personal growth.

The research is detailed in the article, "Can People Benefit from Acute Stress? Social Support, Psychological Improvement, and Resilience after the Virginia Tech Campus Shootings," published September 1 in psychology journal, "Clinical Psychological Science."

The study used depression and anxiety symptoms to identify distinct patterns of adjustment from before to after the shootings. Although resilience was most common, found in nearly 60% of participants, a trajectory of substantial improvement in anxiety and depression symptoms also emerged among 13.2% and 7.4% of the sample, respectively. About 15% of the sample in total reported marked psychological improvement in either depression, anxiety, or both after the shootings.

Why would people improve after a trauma? The group presented evidence that trauma has positive effects on social relationships. It seems that stress motivates social connection and increases feelings of intimacy. Given that social relationships are a key element of healthy psychological functioning, the findings suggest that trauma can have the surprising effect of improving some people's psychological functioning by increasing their feelings of closeness with friends and family.

As might be expected, there was a group of survivors (19 - 23%) who reported substantial increases in anxiety or depression after the shootings that persisted for 12 months, a reaction consistent with potential posttraumatic stress disorder. This group reported no change in their social relationships.

The findings overall provide a deeper understanding of the impact of mass trauma on psychological functioning and suggest that a key element of adaptive coping is the enhancement of close relationships.

About Dyson College of Arts and Sciences:  Pace University's liberal arts college, Dyson College offers more than 50 programs, spanning the arts and humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and pre-professional programs (including pre-medicine, pre-veterinary, and pre-law), as well as numerous courses that fulfill core curriculum requirements.  The College offers access to numerous opportunities for internships, cooperative education and other hands-on learning experiences that complement in-class learning in preparing graduates for career and graduate/professional education choices.  www.pace.edu/dyson

About Pace University: Since 1906, Pace University has educated thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs in its Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lubin School of Business, College of Health Professions, School of Education, School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. Visit www.pace.edu.

SOURCE Pace University