Does broadening one's concept of trauma undermine resilience?

The term 'trauma' seems to have expanded from a narrow usage (referring exclusively to extreme events such as rape and warfare) to a broad usage (encompassing almost any event that results in emotional distress). Today, individuals vary widely in the extent to which their personal 'trauma concept' is relatively narrow or broad. In this study, we explore whether this variation is important to individuals' actual experience when facing a stressful event (in this case, watching a disturbing film clip). Individuals with broader beliefs about trauma experienced more intense negative emotions and were more likely to report viewing the film clip as a personal trauma. Moreover, those who saw the film clip as a personal trauma reported more event-related distress (e.g., intrusions, nightmares) several days following. However, we find limited support for causality, with an experimental manipulation showing a significant effect on personal trauma concepts but mixed effects on other outcomes.