Positive and negative affect in the daily life of world trade center responders with PTSD: An ecological momentary assessment study.

OBJECTIVE: The ability to experience positive affect (PA) has clinical and quality of life implications, particularly in vulnerable populations such as trauma-exposed disaster responders. Low PA is included in the diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), however evidence for PA reduction in PTSD has been mixed. In contrast, negative affect (NA) has consistently been found to be elevated among individuals with PTSD. Multiday, ecological momentary assessment (EMA) can provide more ecologically valid evidence about experiences of affect; however, no such studies have been conducted in traumatized individuals with PTSD to date. METHOD: World Trade Center (WTC) responders (N = 202) oversampled for the presence of PTSD were recruited from the WTC Health Program. Participants were administrated the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 at baseline, then completed EMA surveys of affect four times a day over seven consecutive days. RESULTS: Participants with current PTSD (19.3% of the sample) showed significantly higher levels of daily NA compared with those without PTSD. However, there was no group difference in daily PA, nor was PA associated with a dimensional measure of PTSD. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that for chronic PTSD among disaster responders, positive emotions are not inhibited across daily living. Such findings add to evidence suggesting that PA reduction may not be diagnostically relevant to PTSD, whereas NA remains an important target for therapeutic interventions. Moreover, results show that WTC responders can experience and benefit from positive emotion, even if they continue to have PTSD symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluation of adding the CANTAB computerized neuropsychological assessment battery to a traditional battery in a tertiary care center for veterans.

Numerous advantages of and concerns about computerized neuropsychological assessment systems have been noted. Here we report a program evaluation of incorporating a computerized system, the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), in our tertiary assessment center for Veterans. Patients were 23 consecutive referrals to the Western War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, an interdisciplinary assessment center within the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System for Veterans with complex medical presentations. Patients were administered both the CANTAB and a brief traditional neuropsychological battery. The correlation between global composite scores from each method was .71 (p < .05), indicating "good" concordance. Concordance was "fair" to "good" for scores on specific cognitive domains. However, concordance was lower when classifying patients' cognition as "impaired" or "not-impaired" based on a cutoff score. Despite the CANTAB's primarily visuospatial interface, discrepancy between the two methods' scores was not associated with patients' visuospatial abilities. The two methods were similarly sensitive to deficits associated with posttraumatic stress disorder, which is prevalent among the Center's patients. The CANTAB was judged to be a valid and useful complement to, but not an acceptable alternative to a traditional neuropsychologist-administered cognitive assessment battery for the Center's specific patients and needs.

Ecological momentary assessment of sleep and PTSD symptoms in a veteran sample.

OBJECTIVE: Disturbed sleep is common among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but there has been limited research on the momentary relationships between daytime PTSD symptoms and nighttime sleep. The goal of this study was to examine the relationships between daytime peak PTSD symptoms and sleep duration that night and between sleep duration and peak PTSD symptoms the next day. METHOD: The study sample was 42 American post-2001 veterans recruited for a study of risky sexual behavior who completed a baseline PTSD Checklist-5 For 28 days, PTSD symptoms were assessed 3 times per day using a version of the PTSD Checklist-5 modified to ask about the previous 2 hours. Each morning, participants rated the previous night's sleep duration. Two multilevel models were estimated, 1 modeling a given day's peak PTSD symptoms and the other modeling a given night's sleep duration. RESULTS: In the first model, peak PTSD symptoms on a given day were significantly related to mean peak daily PTSD symptoms, estimate = 1.003, p < .001; previous night's sleep duration, estimate = -1.799, p < .001; and previous day's peak PTSD symptoms, estimate = .159, p < .05. In the second model, sleep duration on a given night was associated with mean sleep duration, estimate = 1.032, p < .001, but not with peak PTSD symptoms during that day, estimate = -.001, ns. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to research indicating that a poorer-than-usual night's sleep is associated with higher peak PTSD symptoms the next day but higher peak PTSD symptoms in the day are not associated with worse sleep that night. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessment and Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

PURPOSE: The goal of this article is to increase clinicians' understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and improve skills in assessing risk for and diagnosing PTSD. The importance and sequelae of lifetime trauma burden are discussed, with reference to trends in prevention, early intervention, and treatment. RECENT FINDINGS: PTSD has different clinical phenotypes, which are reflected in the changes in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria. PTSD is almost always complicated by comorbidity. Treatment requires a multimodal approach, usually including medication, different therapeutic techniques, and management of comorbidity. Interest is growing in the neurobiology of childhood survivors of trauma, intergenerational transmission of trauma, and long-term impact of trauma on physical health. Mitigation of the risk of PTSD pretrauma in the military and first responders is gaining momentum, given concerns about the cost and disability associated with PTSD. Interest is also growing in screening for PTSD in medical populations, with evidence of improved clinical outcomes. Preliminary research supports the treatment of PTSD with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. SUMMARY: PTSD is a trauma-related disorder with features of fear and negative thinking about the trauma and the future. Untreated, it leads to ongoing disruption of life due to avoidance, impaired vocational and social functioning, and other symptoms, depending on the phenotype. Despite a theoretical understanding of underlying mechanisms, PTSD remains challenging to treat, although evidence exists for benefit of pharmacologic agents and trauma-focused therapies. A need still remains for treatments that are more effective and efficient, with faster onset.

Utility of P300 ERP in monitoring post-trauma mental health: A longitudinal study in military personnel returning from combat deployment.

Military service members (SMs) returning from combat are at high risk of developing neuropsychiatric conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression. Symptom dynamics following reintegration into civilian life may be magnified over time such that some SMs present with delayed onset and may not reach a diagnostic threshold for months to years. Monitoring the trajectory of mental health in the aftermath of combat trauma can therefore be particularly important in enhancing diagnosis. In this study, we investigated the possible utility of the P300 event-related potential (ERP) as an objective marker for monitoring post-trauma mental health. SMs recently returned from a combat deployment were recruited to undergo a baseline assessment, with subsequent follow-up assessment at 6 or 12 months later. At each assessment, ERPs were recorded using a conventional visual oddball task and a set of psychological scores assessing PTSD, depression, and psychosocial functioning were obtained. We observed that the individuals with overall improved psychological scores at follow-up had increased P300 amplitude and shortened P300 latency, and the individuals with overall worsened psychological scores at follow-up had prolonged P300 latency. The degree of change in aggregate psychological score was significantly correlated with the magnitude of change in P300 amplitude (r = -0.72, p < 0.0001) and latency (r = 0.42, p = 0.0201). These findings suggest that the P300 may be utilized as a quantitative biomarker for tracking the changes of mental health longitudinally. It may offer clinicians an objective tool for the assessment of the dynamics of mental health following trauma, and perhaps also for monitoring recovery during treatment.

The impact of PTSD clusters on cannabis use in a racially diverse trauma-exposed sample: An analysis from ecological momentary assessment.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence indicates a link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and cannabis use and suggests that this link may vary as a function of the PTSD symptom cluster type. Consistent with negative reinforcement models of substance use, individuals with elevated Cluster D (Hyperarousal) symptoms may be more likely to use cannabis in response to elevated state anxiety and experience decreases in state anxiety after using cannabis. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to test hypotheses that the interaction of Cluster D and state anxiety would be related to subsequent cannabis use and that those with elevated Cluster D symptoms who used cannabis would report the greatest decreases in state anxiety. To test the specificity, we tested whether Clusters B (re-experiencing) and C (avoidance) showed similar relationships. METHODS: The present study used ecological momentary assessment to examine cannabis use among 87 cannabis-using individuals with PTSD symptoms (64.4% male, 56.3% non-Hispanic Caucasian). State anxiety and cannabis use were assessed over the two-week period via signal contingent (six random prompts per day), interval contingent (each bedtime), and event contingent (cannabis use episodes) assessments. RESULTS: Consistent with negative reinforcement models, participants with clinically significant Cluster D symptoms with elevated state anxiety had a greater likelihood of subsequent cannabis use and cannabis use resulted in less subsequent anxiety. The negative reinforcement hypothesis was only partially supported for those with Cluster B and C symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that negative reinforcement models may be especially relevant to understanding cannabis use among those with clinically elevated Cluster D symptoms.

Screaming Body and Silent Healthcare Providers: A Case Study with a Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivor.

Stressful early life experiences cause immune dysregulation across the lifespan. Despite the fact that studies have identified childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors as a particularly vulnerable group, only a few attempts have been made to study their lived-experience of the physical health consequences of CSA. The aim of this study was to explore a female CSA survivor's lived-experience of the physical health consequences of CSA and how she experienced the reactions of healthcare providers. Seven interviews were conducted with this 40-year-old woman, Anne, using a phenomenological research approach. Anne was still a young child (two to three years old) when her father started to rape her. Since her childhood, she has experienced complex and widespread physical health consequences such as repeated vaginal and abdominal infections, widespread and chronic pain, sleeping problems, digestive problems, chronic back problems, fibromyalgia, musculoskeletal problems, repeated urinary tract infections, cervical dysplasia, inflammation of the Fallopian tubes, menorrhagia, endometrial hyperplasia, chlamydia, ovarian cysts, ectopic pregnancies, uterus problems, severe adhesions, and ovarian cancer. Anne disclosed her CSA experience to several healthcare providers but they were silent and failed to provide trauma-informed care. Anne's situation, albeit unique, might reflect similar problems in other female CSA survivors.

Assessment of skin conductance in African American and Non-African American participants in studies of conditioned fear.

Skin conductance (SC) is a psychophysiological measure of sympathetic nervous system activity that is commonly used in research to assess conditioned fear responses. A portion of individuals evidence very low or unmeasurable SC levels (SCL) and/or response (SCR) during fear conditioning, which precludes the use of their SC data. The reason that some individuals do not produce measurable SCL and/or SCR is not clear; some early research suggested that race may be an influencing factor. In the current article, archival data from five fear conditioning samples collected from four different laboratories were examined to explore SCL and SCR magnitude in African American (AA) and non-African American (non-AA) participants. Across studies, the aggregate group difference for exclusion due to unmeasurable SCL or no measurable SCR to an unconditioned stimulus reflected a significant medium effect size (d = 0.54). Furthermore, 24.3% (range: 0-48.3%) of AA participants met SC exclusion criteria versus 14.3% (range: 4.3-24.2%) of non-AA participants. AA participants also displayed significantly lower SCL during habituation (d = 0.58). The low SC levels and responses in AA individuals and the consequent exclusion of their contributions to fear conditioning study results impacts the generalizability of findings across races. Given higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic anxiety in AA individuals, it is important that AA individuals not be excluded from fear conditioning research, which informs the treatment of anxiety and PTSD. Examination of the basis of very low SCL and/or SCR is a potentially informative direction for future research.

Complexity Variability Assessment of Nonlinear Time-Varying Cardiovascular Control.

The application of complex systems theory to physiology and medicine has provided meaningful information about the nonlinear aspects underlying the dynamics of a wide range of biological processes and their disease-related aberrations. However, no studies have investigated whether meaningful information can be extracted by quantifying second-order moments of time-varying cardiovascular complexity. To this extent, we introduce a novel mathematical framework termed complexity variability, in which the variance of instantaneous Lyapunov spectra estimated over time serves as a reference quantifier. We apply the proposed methodology to four exemplary studies involving disorders which stem from cardiology, neurology and psychiatry: Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Major Depression Disorder (MDD), Parkinson's Disease (PD), and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) patients with insomnia under a yoga training regime. We show that complexity assessments derived from simple time-averaging are not able to discern pathology-related changes in autonomic control, and we demonstrate that between-group differences in measures of complexity variability are consistent across pathologies. Pathological states such as CHF, MDD, and PD are associated with an increased complexity variability when compared to healthy controls, whereas wellbeing derived from yoga in PTSD is associated with lower time-variance of complexity.

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptom burden and gender each affect generalization in a reward- and punishment-learning task.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop following exposure to a traumatic event. Re-experiencing, which includes intrusive memories or flashbacks of the trauma, is a core symptom cluster of PTSD. From an associative learning perspective, this cluster may be attributed to cues associated with the trauma, which have come to elicit symptoms in a variety of situations encountered in daily life due to a tendency to overgeneralize. Consistent with this, prior studies have indicated that both individuals with clinically diagnosed with PTSD, and those with self-reported symptoms who may not meet full diagnostic criteria, show changes in generalization. Building on prior research, the current study examined whether PTSD symptom burden, but also gender, veteran status, and combat experience-all associated with PTSD vulnerability-modulate learning and generalization in a computer-based task. Participants were presented with stimulus compounds consisting of a foreground and background that could be predictive of reward, punishment or no outcome. Learning was followed by a generalization test where these components were recombined to form novel configurations. An interaction between PTSD symptom burden and gender was found where females with more severe PTSD symptoms showed no evidence of sensitivity to the background. This result is consistent with increased generalization, and may indicate a decrease in the ability to process cue configurations leading to re-experiencing in a variety of situations. Further work is indicated to help elucidate the cognitive processes driving gender differences that may confer vulnerability to PTSD.

Predator-based psychosocial stress animal model of PTSD: Preclinical assessment of traumatic stress at cognitive, hormonal, pharmacological, cardiovascular and epigenetic levels of analysis.

Research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is faced with the challenge of understanding how a traumatic experience produces long-lasting detrimental effects on behavior and brain functioning, and more globally, how stress exacerbates somatic disorders, including cardiovascular disease. Moreover, the design of translational research needs to link animal models of PTSD to clinically relevant risk factors which address why only a subset of traumatized individuals develop persistent psychopathology. In this review, we have summarized our psychosocial stress rodent model of PTSD which is based on well-described PTSD-inducing risk factors, including a life-threatening experience, a sense of horror and uncontrollability, and insufficient social support. Specifically, our animal model of PTSD integrates acute episodes of inescapable exposure of immobilized rats to a predator with chronic daily social instability. This stress regimen produces PTSD-like effects in rats at behavioral, cognitive, physiological, pharmacological and epigenetic levels of analysis. We have discussed a recent extension of our animal model of PTSD in which stress exacerbated coronary pathology following an ischemic event, assessed in vitro. In addition, we have reviewed our research investigating pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapeutic strategies which may have value in clinical approaches toward the treatment of traumatized people. Overall, our translational approach bridges the gap between human and animal PTSD research to create a framework with which to enhance our understanding of the biological basis of trauma-induced pathology and to assess therapeutic approaches in the treatment of psychopathology.

Construct Validity of the SF-12v2 for the Homeless Population with Mental Illness: An Instrument to Measure Self-Reported Mental and Physical Health.

BACKGROUND: Self-reported health measures are important indicators used by clinicians and researchers for the evaluation of health interventions, outcome assessment of clinical studies, and identification of health needs to improve resource allocation. However, the application of self-reported health measures relies on developing reliable and valid instruments that are suitable across diverse populations. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the construct validity of the SF-12v.2, an instrument for measuring self-rated physical and mental health, for homeless adults with mental illness. Various interventions have been aimed at improving the health of homeless people with mental illness, and the development of valid instruments to evaluate these interventions is imperative. STUDY DESIGN: We measured self-rated mental and physical health from a quota sample of 575 homeless people with mental illness using the SF-12v2, EQ-5D, Colorado Symptoms Index, and physical/mental health visual analogue scales. We examined the construct validity of the SF-12v2 through confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), and using ANOVA/correlation analyses to compare the SF-12v2 to the other instruments to ascertain discriminant/convergent validity. RESULTS: Our CFA showed that the measurement properties of the original SF-12v2 model had a mediocre fit with our empirical data (χ2 = 193.6, df = 43, p < .0001, CFI = 0.85, NFI = 0.83, RMSEA = 0.08). We demonstrate that changes based on theoretical rationale and previous studies can significantly improve the model, achieving an excellent fit in our final model (χ2 = 160.6, df = 48, p < .0001, CFI = 0.95, NFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.06). Our CFA results suggest that an alternative scoring method based on the new model may optimize health status measurement of a homeless population. Despite these issues, convergent and discriminant validity of the SF-12v2 (scored based on the original model) was supported through multiple comparisons with other instruments. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates for the first time that the SF-12v2 is generally appropriate as a measure of physical and mental health status for a homeless population with mental illness.

Characterizing and Differentiating Brain State Dynamics via Hidden Markov Models.

Functional connectivity measured from resting state fMRI (R-fMRI) data has been widely used to examine the brain's functional activities and has been recently used to characterize and differentiate brain conditions. However, the dynamical transition patterns of the brain's functional states have been less explored. In this work, we propose a novel computational framework to quantitatively characterize the brain state dynamics via hidden Markov models (HMMs) learned from the observations of temporally dynamic functional connectomics, denoted as functional connectome states. The framework has been applied to the R-fMRI dataset including 44 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients and 51 normal control (NC) subjects. Experimental results show that both PTSD and NC brains were undergoing remarkable changes in resting state and mainly transiting amongst a few brain states. Interestingly, further prediction with the best-matched HMM demonstrates that PTSD would enter into, but could not disengage from, a negative mood state. Importantly, 84% of PTSD patients and 86% of NC subjects are successfully classified via multiple HMMs using majority voting.

Beware of multiple traumas in PTSD assessment: the role of reactivation mechanism in intrusive and hyper-arousal symptoms.

OBJECTIVES: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a major public health problem defined by three symptom clusters: intrusion thoughts, avoidance mechanisms and hyper-arousal. Several authors have emphasized, that some or all of these symptoms related to a past traumatic experience could be reactivated, even after long asymptomatic periods. This study investigates the role of an additional trauma in the reactivation of a childhood trauma among a group of former hidden children (n = 65), the Jewish youths who spent World War II in various hideaway shelters in Nazi-occupied Europe. They were compared with a control group. METHOD: The presence or absence of an additional trauma in adulthood was assessed and PTSD symptoms were measured by using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised. RESULTS: An additional trauma reactivates PTSD symptoms of intrusion thoughts and, marginally, symptoms of hyper-arousal. At the opposite, symptoms of avoidance were not reactivated. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm the role of an additional trauma in the reactivation of traumatic memories, related to an earlier trauma, in later life. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed and perspectives are proposed.

[Complex estimation of the state of health, quality of life, level of psychological adaptation and rates of senescence of war veterans, suffering from arterial hypertension].

The article presents some aspects of the health status of the veterans of the Samara region. Intercommunication is marked between the level of social adaptation, quality of life and rate aging combatants. The study shows the effect of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder on the occurrence of psychosomatic pathology and development of senescence combat veterans suffering from arterial hypertension.

The hidden price of repeated traumatic exposure.

Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated reduced hippocampal volume in trauma-exposed individuals without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the implications of such a deficit in this non-clinical population are still unclear. Animal and human models of PTSD suggest that hippocampal deficit may result in impaired learning and use of associations between contextual information and aversive events. Previous study has shown that individuals with PTSD have a selective impairment in reversing the negative outcome of context-related information. The aim of this study was to test whether non-PTSD individuals who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events display similar impairment. To that end, we compared the performance of active-duty firefighters who are frequently exposed to traumatic events as part of their occupational routine and civilian matched-controls with no history of trauma-exposure. We used a novel cue-context reversal paradigm, which separately evaluates reversal of negative and positive outcomes of cue and context-related information. As predicted, we found that while both trauma-exposed firefighters and unexposed matched-controls were able to acquire and retain stimulus-outcome associations, firefighters struggled to learn that a previously negative context is later associated with a positive outcome. This impairment did not correlate with levels of PTSD, anxiety or depressive symptoms. The results suggest that similar to individuals with PTSD, highly exposed individuals fail to associate traumatic outcomes with their appropriate context. This impairment may reflect a possible hidden price of repeated traumatic exposure, which is not necessarily associated with PTSD diagnosis, and may affect the way highly exposed individuals interpret and react to their environment.

Does negative affect mediate the relationship between daily PTSD symptoms and daily alcohol involvement in female rape victims? Evidence from 14 days of interactive voice response assessment.

The negative reinforcement model of addiction posits that individuals may use alcohol to reduce negative affective (NA) distress. The current study investigated the mediating effect of daily NA on the relationship between daily PTSD symptoms and same-day and next-day alcohol involvement (consumption and desire to drink) in a sample of 54 non-treatment-seeking female rape victims who completed 14 days of interactive voice response assessment. The moderating effect of lifetime alcohol use disorder diagnosis (AUD) on daily relationships was also examined. Multilevel models suggested that NA mediated the relationship between PTSD and same-day, but not next-day alcohol involvement. NA was greater on days characterized by more severe PTSD symptoms, and alcohol consumption and desire to drink were greater on days characterized by higher NA. Furthermore, daily PTSD symptoms and NA were more strongly associated with same-day (but not next-day) alcohol consumption and desire to drink for women with an AUD than without. Results suggest that NA plays an important role in female rape victims' daily alcohol use. Differences between women with and without an AUD indicate the need for treatment matching to subtypes of female rape victims.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms and work-related accomplishment as predictors of general health and medical utilization among Special Operations Forces personnel.

Research has established clear links among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), somatic symptoms, and general health among conventional force military personnel. It is possible that the same relationships exist among Special Operations Force (SOF) personnel, but there are very few, if any, studies that examine these relationships. This study investigated correlates of general health and medical visits among SOF personnel and found that the interaction of somatic and PTSD symptoms was associated with worse health and more frequent medical visits. Follow-up analyses indicated that the interaction of avoidance symptoms with somatic symptoms was significantly associated with worse health, whereas the interaction of emotional numbing with somatic symptoms significantly contributed to increased medical visits. In addition, the results suggest that a sense of accomplishment among SOF personnel may serve as a protective factor against poor health. The results suggest developing interactions among SOF personnel that promote a sense of achievement to ultimately improve the health of the force.

Psychological morbidity and autonomic reactivity to emotional stimulus in parental cancer: a study with adult children caregivers.

Literature suggests that parental cancer can provoke aversive emotional arousal in adult children, who may perceive caregiving as a traumatic experience. Limited research has been conducted on emotional and physiological impact of family caregiving for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The aim of the present study was to examine psychological and physiological responses in parental cancer's caregivers. Two matched groups of adult children, with 78 participants each (parental cancer vs. control), completed psychological measures of distress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and burden. Additionally, each participant visualised standardised pictures with different emotional valences, while cardiovascular (heart rate) and electrodermal responses (skin conductance) were recorded. Between-group analysis showed significant differences on all psychological variables, and on skin conductance for all types of pictures. However, for the heart rate responses, differences were found only for pictures with unpleasant emotional arousal. In the parental cancer group, the heart rate peak response stood out as a predictor of PTSD symptoms, after controlling for distress and burden. This study highlights the important role of psychophysiological measures of family caregiving in oncology. Physiological responses may explain a higher prevalence of PTSD symptoms. Therefore, biofeedback combined with targeted psychosocial interventions for relaxation could be of great clinical value for this population.