TY - JOUR
T1 - Shame, guilt, and posttraumatic stress symptoms
T2 - A three-level meta-analysis
AU - Shi, Congrong
AU - Ren, Zhihong
AU - Zhao, Chunxiao
AU - Zhang, Tao
AU - Chan, Sunny Ho Wan
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the self-determined research funds of Central China Normal University from the colleges? basic research and operation of Ministry of Education of China (grant number: CCNU20TD001); the Key Program of Institute of Wuhan Studies of Jianghan University (grant number: IWHS20201007).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Existing empirical findings are inconsistent on the correlations of shame and guilt with posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). This study aimed to quantitatively summarize the strength of the associations of shame and guilt with PTSS and explore potential moderators. Based on a three-level meta-analytic method, shame was positively correlated with PTSS, no matter whether the effects of guilt were controlled; guilt also had a positive correlation with PTSS, regardless of whether the effects of shame were partialling out. Moderator analyses showed that type of shame measure (generalized vs. contextual vs. trauma-specific shame) moderated the relation between shame and PTSS, and type of guilt measure (generalized vs. contextual vs. trauma-specific guilt) moderated the relation between guilt and PTSS. In addition, culture had a marginally significant moderating effect on the relation between guilt and PTSS, with a stronger association of guilt with PTSS in Western culture than in Eastern culture. These results supported the links of shame and guilt to PTSS and implied that we should focus on the conceptual underpinnings of the manifest psychometric issue and maintain cultural sensitivity in future research. The implications for posttraumatic stress disorder treatment were also discussed.
AB - Existing empirical findings are inconsistent on the correlations of shame and guilt with posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). This study aimed to quantitatively summarize the strength of the associations of shame and guilt with PTSS and explore potential moderators. Based on a three-level meta-analytic method, shame was positively correlated with PTSS, no matter whether the effects of guilt were controlled; guilt also had a positive correlation with PTSS, regardless of whether the effects of shame were partialling out. Moderator analyses showed that type of shame measure (generalized vs. contextual vs. trauma-specific shame) moderated the relation between shame and PTSS, and type of guilt measure (generalized vs. contextual vs. trauma-specific guilt) moderated the relation between guilt and PTSS. In addition, culture had a marginally significant moderating effect on the relation between guilt and PTSS, with a stronger association of guilt with PTSS in Western culture than in Eastern culture. These results supported the links of shame and guilt to PTSS and implied that we should focus on the conceptual underpinnings of the manifest psychometric issue and maintain cultural sensitivity in future research. The implications for posttraumatic stress disorder treatment were also discussed.
KW - Culture
KW - Guilt
KW - Posttraumatic stress
KW - Shame
KW - Three-level meta-analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109547053&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102443
DO - 10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102443
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34265540
AN - SCOPUS:85109547053
SN - 0887-6185
VL - 82
JO - Journal of Anxiety Disorders
JF - Journal of Anxiety Disorders
M1 - 102443
ER -
