Trauma symptoms predict student course experiences: Undergraduate PTSS and learning about trauma-related content

Objective: Previous research indicates a risk for student distress and secondary traumatic stress in college courses containing sensitive, trauma-related content. There is a need to understand how students with various levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) respond to sensitive material. Participants: Ninety undergraduates enrolled in a traumatic stress course. Methods: Students completed a survey assessing trauma-related symptoms and self-reported experiences with and reactions to trauma-related course content. Results: Regardless of PTSS levels, students responded to the course in a similar manner. However, results from a multivariate regression a moderation analysis indicated significant associations between PTSS levels and emotional reactivity, perceived drawbacks, and dissociation. Conclusions: Generally, students did not find trauma-related content “retraumatizing” even with various levels of trauma-related symptoms. Students with higher levels of PTSS who indicated dissociative symptoms reported fewer drawbacks, revealing a possible protective effect of dissociation. Implications for teaching trauma-based material based on current research are described.