Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychological disorder that affects a substantial minority of individuals. Previous research has suggested that PTSD can be partially explained as a disorder of impaired fear inhibition. The current study utilized a previously validated fear acquisition and extinction paradigm in a sample of 75 undergraduate women who were exposed to a campus mass shooting that occurred in 2008. We used a protocol in which conditioned fear was first acquired through the presentation of one colored shape (reinforced conditioned stimulus, CS+) that was paired with an aversive airblast to the larynx (unconditioned stimulus, US) and a different colored shape that was not paired with the airblast (non-reinforced conditioned stimulus, CS-). Fear was extinguished 10 min later through repeated presentations of the CSs without reinforcement. Number of clinically significant posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) immediately following the mass shooting were positively associated with fear-potentiated startle (FPS) to the CS+ and CS- during late periods of acquisition. During early periods of fear extinction, PTSS was positively associated with FPS to the CS+. Results from the current study suggest that PTSS is related to altered fear inhibition and extinction during an FPS paradigm. In line with similar research, women with greater PTSS demonstrated a greater “fear load,” suggesting that these women experienced elevated fear to the CS+ during extinction after conditioned fear was acquired.
Highlights
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological disorder that affects approximately 8% of the United States population (Kessler et al, 2005)
Seventy-five female participants underwent the fearpotentiated startle (FPS) paradigm. Of those 75 women, 42 met criteria for probable PTSD according to the Distressing Events Questionnaire (DEQ) (PTSD+) immediately following the campus mass shooting, whereas 33 did not meet criteria for probable PTSD according to the DEQ (PTSD−)
Posttraumatic stress symptoms was positively associated with FPS to the conditioned stimuli (CS)+ during late Acquisition (r = 0.276, p = 0.016) and with FPS to the CS− during late Acquisition (r = 0.292, p = 0.011). These findings suggest that participants with greater posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) immediately following the campus mass shooting demonstrated greater FPS to both the CS+ and CS− during late Acquisition compared to participants with lower PTSS immediately following the campus mass shooting
Summary
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological disorder that affects approximately 8% of the United States population (Kessler et al, 2005). During a potentially traumatic event, an individual’s sympathetic nervous system (SNS) response is typically activated (Amstadter et al, 2009). This SNS “fight-or-flight” response triggers sudden changes in the body, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, the constriction of veins in order to send more blood to major muscle groups, and the shutting down of non-essential systems (e.g., immune system). An individual with PTSD experiences an UR (i.e., “fight-or-flight” response) to a CS that was formerly associated with the traumatic event, even when that individual is in the presence of safety (Davis, 1992). This response to the CS without the presence of the US demonstrates poor fear inhibition, or the inability to inhibit the fear response
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