Emotional Activation and Habituation During Imaginal Exposure for PTSD Among Women With Borderline Personality Disorder.

The current study examined patterns and outcomes of emotional activation and habituation during imaginal exposure for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants were 16 women with borderline personality disorder (BPD), PTSD, and recent suicidal and/or self-injurious behavior who received imaginal exposure for PTSD concurrently with dialectical behavior therapy. The intensity of global distress and 6 specific emotions were assessed before and after imaginal exposure trials. Results indicated that significant within-session habituation (WSH) occurred for global distress (Hedge's g effect size = -2.52) and fear (g = -0.80), whereas significant between-session habituation (BSH) occurred for global distress (g = -2.18), fear (g = -1.89), guilt (g = -1.14), shame (g = -0.74), and disgust (g = -0.41). BSH significantly predicted PTSD diagnostic status at posttreatment, whereas activation and WSH were unrelated to outcome. Clients who remitted from PTSD showed significantly more BSH in global distress than nonremitters (η(2) = .39). In addition, remitters reported reductions in sadness and anger across trials, whereas sadness and anger increased for those who did not remit (η(2) = .54 and .40, respectively). Overall, BPD clients exhibited patterns of activation and habituation during imaginal exposure comparable to other client populations, and there was no evidence of persistent emotional engagement or habituation problems.

Treatment preference among suicidal and self-injuring women with borderline personality disorder and PTSD.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined treatment preferences among suicidal and self-injuring women with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and PTSD. METHOD: Women (N = 42, M(age) = 34) with BPD, PTSD and recent intentional self-injury were evaluated upon entry into a psychotherapy outcome study. RESULTS: The majority preferred a combined dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and prolonged exposure (PE) treatment (73.8%), followed by DBT alone (26.2%), and PE alone (0%). Women who preferred the combined treatment were more likely to report a desire to obtain relief from PTSD and to receive specific DBT and PE treatment components as reasons underlying this preference. Few women (21.4%) reported concerns about PE, but those who did were more likely to prefer DBT alone. More severe PTSD re-experiencing symptoms, a childhood index trauma, and less reduction in positive affect after a trauma interview predicted a preference for the combined treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These results may help to inform treatment for these complex patients.

Validating military culture: The factor analysis of a military-related adaptation of acculturation in veterans.

Differences between military and civilian culture can impact a veteran's ability to effectively navigate the transition to the civilian setting after separating from military service. However, systems providing psychological services to veterans lack reliable and valid methods of identifying the extent to which the dissonance between military and civilian cultures is associated with postseparation adjustment (e.g., ability to integrate profound deployment experiences into civilian life) and psychological outcomes. Utilization of a theory-driven, acculturation framework to assess military and civilian cultural affiliation may address this gap. While several quantitative measures exist for evaluating acculturation in reference to different ethnocultural experiences and that evaluate military culture-related adjustment or reintegration, there are no existing validated measures rooted in cultural theory that explicitly assess military-related acculturation. The aim of the present study was to develop and examine the psychometric properties of theoretically grounded, military-related adaptations of validated acculturation measures. Data from 364 veterans were collected with an online survey including four military-related adaptations of acculturation measures. Results suggest that the proposed adaptation of the original ethnocultural measurement model was not a good fit to the data, χ² = 2396.99, p < .001, TLI = .73. An evaluation of localized areas of strain in the confirmatory model and results from an exploratory factor analysis suggest support for the continued development of a military-related model of acculturation after considering further measure restructuring and validation. Opportunities for future research and measure validation are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Natural disaster preparedness in college students: Implications for institutions of higher learning.

OBJECTIVE: There is growing interest in the effectiveness of disaster preparedness at universities. Although several studies have examined student preparedness perceptions, a better understanding of factors that may influence actual preparedness is needed. PARTICIPANTS: Seven hundred sixty-five undergraduate and graduate students at a southeastern U.S. university completed an online survey in September 2013. METHODS: Participants were administered an online survey that included questions regarding disaster preparedness and their experiences with disasters. RESULTS: Students' disaster concern was more related to perceived preparedness over actual preparedness; disaster experience significantly predicted both actual and perceived preparedness. Perceived university preparedness was a significant predictor of disaster concern. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that perceived and actual preparedness are related but not entirely equivalent, which emphasizes the importance of differentiating the two constructs. Limitations of the current study and recommendations for future research are provided.

Dialectical behavior therapy skills use and emotion dysregulation in personality disorders and psychopathy: a community self-report study.

BACKGROUND: Emotion dysregulation is a critical transdiagnostic mental health problem that needs to be further examined in personality disorders (PDs). The current study examined dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills use, emotion dysregulation, and dysfunctional coping among adults who endorsed symptoms of cluster B PDs and psychopathy. We hypothesized that skills taught in DBT and emotion dysregulation are useful for adults with PDs other than borderline personality disorder (BPD). METHODS: Using a self-report questionnaire, we examined these constructs in three groups of community adults: those who reported symptoms consistent with borderline personality disorder (BPD; N = 29), those who reported symptoms consistent with any other cluster B PD (N = 22), and those with no reported cluster B PD symptoms (N = 77) as measured by the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4 + . RESULTS: Both PD groups reported higher emotion dysregulation and dysfunctional coping when compared to the no PD group. Only the BPD group had significantly lower DBT skills use. DBT skills use was found to be a significant predictor of cluster B psychopathology but only before accounting for emotion dysregulation. When added to the regression model, emotion dysregulation was found to be a significant predictor of cluster B psychopathology but DBT skills use no longer had a significant effect. Across all groups, DBT skills use deficits and maladaptive coping, but not emotion dysregulation, predicted different facets of psychopathy. CONCLUSION: Emotion dysregulation and use of maladaptive coping are problems in cluster B PDs, outside of BPD, but not in psychopathy. Inability to use DBT skills may be unique to BPD. Because this study relied exclusively on self-report, this data is preliminary and warrants further investigation.