Community Disasters and Shared Trauma: Implications of Listening to Co-Survivor Narratives

Abstract

Shared trauma produces a unique dynamic in survivor–social supporter interactions because survivors may simultaneously act as support providers. We investigated people's reactions to simulated co-survivors’ trauma narratives and hypothesized that the narrator's vocal distress would result in agitation and that posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms would moderate this relationship. Eighty-four Hurricane Katrina survivors reported their mental health, listened to an ostensible co-survivor's trauma narrative, and reported their distress. When the narrator sounded distraught rather than recovered, people with higher PTS symptoms were increasingly reactive. Results provide preliminary evidence that interactions centered on disaster experiences may create distress rather than foster recovery.