Experiential Avoidance, Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms, and Academic Impairment.

The ways in which Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms lead to impairments in functioning, including academic performance, are not well understood. The present study sought to examine the role of a common maladaptive coping strategy, experiential avoidance, as a moderator of the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and academic achievement. Participants (N = 326) were undergraduate students enrolled in introductory psychology courses at a large university in the Midwestern United States who reported at least one event potentially meeting Criterion A for PTSD. The prospective association of PTSS with current and subsequent semester GPAs, and with experiential avoidance as the moderator, were examined. The interaction between PTSS and experiential avoidance significantly predicted both current semester GPA and subsequent semester GPA, with stronger associations between PTSS and GPA being observed at higher levels of experiential avoidance. These results were not fully explained by control variables of high school performance, standardized test scores, and general negative affect. This study found that experiential avoidance significantly moderates the relationship between PTSS and academic performance. These results suggest that interventions that target PTSS and/or experiential avoidance may increase GPA. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Approach Behaviour, Stress and Substance Use in Young Adults.

We investigated the interaction between approach behaviours (measured through performance on a resource-gathering task) and self-reported global life stress to predict substance use. Our hypothesis that high levels of approach behaviour in combination with high life stress would predict elevated substance use was guided by the reinforcement sensitivity theory (Gray & McNaughton, ). Ninety-three young adult students (61 women and 32 men) completed a computerized resource-gathering task and questionnaires assessing global life stress and substance use. Consistent with the hypothesis, approach behaviour was positively related to substance use for individuals with high life stress. The findings suggest that person by environment interactions are useful in understanding substance use and we discuss how approach-motivated individuals may arrive at different substance use outcomes as a function of stressful contexts. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.