Emotion regulation as a potential mediator between reinforcement sensitivity and posttraumatic stress disorder

The reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) of personality asserts that three brain subsystems (i.e., the Behavioral Approach System [BAS], the Behavioral Inhibition System [BIS], and the Fight-Flight-Freeze System [FFFS]) underlie the individual variations seen in personality and psychopathology. Although this theory was revised by Gray and McNaughton in 2000, many researchers continue to utilize the original, and now outdated, theory of reinforcement sensitivity. Additionally, while there is an abundance of research investigating the association between reinforcement sensitivity and psychopathology, the underlying mechanisms between these constructs are still largely unknown. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to test whether emotion regulation acts as a partial mediator between FFFS sensitivity and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) under the framework of the revised RST. Data was collected from 282 undergraduate students who were enrolled in an Introductory Psychology course at a mid-sized Midwestern university. After the data was properly cleaned, a mediational analysis, with the use of bootstrapping, was used to test the significance of the indirect effect of the relationship between FFFS sensitivity and PTSS once emotion regulation was added in the model. The indirect effect was significant (2000 bootstrapped CI_95 = .115 - .233), and therefore the null hypothesis was rejected, indicating that emotion regulation acts as a partial mediator between FFFS sensitivity and PTSS.