Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42391305›Full record

ArticlePloS one2026

Action-guilt, survivor-guilt, and depression in combat-related PTSD.

Mika Allyssa Esquillo, Riya Kumar, Elizabeth Ellen Morris, Christina Bass, Mary Turner, Gail Tillman, John Hart, Michael A Motes

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Mika Allyssa EsquilloCallier Center for Communication Disorders, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, United States of America.
Riya KumarCallier Center for Communication Disorders, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2278-9422
Elizabeth Ellen MorrisCallier Center for Communication Disorders, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, United States of America.
Christina BassCallier Center for Communication Disorders, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, United States of America.
Mary TurnerDepartment of Psychology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States of America.
Gail TillmanCallier Center for Communication Disorders, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, United States of America.
John HartCallier Center for Communication Disorders, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3919-8125
Michael A MotesCallier Center for Communication Disorders, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6635-6948

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Identifying the role of guilt in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has important implications for understanding the development and treatment of PTSD. The present study is a secondary analysis of data collected on veterans with combat-related PTSD (N = 61) who enrolled in a clinical trial. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to explore associations between action- and survivor-guilt on the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), PTSD symptom severity on the CAPS, and depression on the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS). Action- and survivor-guilt independently predicted PTSD total symptom severity, but in examining PTSD symptom cluster severity, only action-guilt independently predicted avoidance and numbing severity in PTSD. However, depression symptom severity on QIDS also mediated the association between action-guilt and PTSD total symptom severity and avoidance and numbing severity. Thus, action- and survivor-guilt appear to have independent contributions to PTSD symptom severity, and action-guilt, more specifically, appears to affect avoidance and numbing severity in PTSD through depression. The findings are discussed in terms of the potential role of guilt in PTSD and in relation to previous research on guilt and depression in PTSD and PTSD treatment.

Indexed as

Combat DisordersDepressionGuiltStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticSurvivorsAdultFemaleHumansMaleSeverity of Illness IndexVeterans

Identifiers

PMID42391305
PMCPMC13327125

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.