Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among subclinical PTSD symptoms, blood pressure, and several variables linked to both frank PTSD and the basic psychobiological adaptation to stress. The authors recruited a sample of 91 healthy, young men and women between 18 and 35 years. We examined links among subclinical posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, blood pressure, sleep quality, and hostility. Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were associated with poorer sleep quality and higher hostility scores in both women and men. In men, PTSD symptoms were also associated with elevated resting diastolic blood pressure, and sex was an important moderator of that relationship. Moreover, sleep quality and hostility are substantive mediators of the relationship between diastolic blood pressure and PTSD. Behavioral interventions designed to increase sleep quality and restructure hostile attitudes could potentially serve as preventive interventions for PTSD and the underlying cardiovascular comorbidities in young adults.
Highlights
The clinical symptomology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the psychobiology of stress and arousal are intimately related
Subclinical PTSD symptoms have been studied in survivors of intimate partner violence [37], Vietnam veterans [38], and young adults [39], among others, but these studies have not focused on factors directly related to the psychobiology of stress and arousal
Caution should be taken in etiologic interpretation of our findings, as it can be difficult to disentangle these constructs in causally meaningful ways without further and more extensive study. These findings suggest that poor sleep quality and hostility are associated with subclinical PTSD symptoms in healthy young men and women without a known history of PTSD
Summary
The clinical symptomology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the psychobiology of stress and arousal are intimately related. Patients diagnosed with PTSD often exhibit hyperarousal, blood pressure dysregulation, sleep disruption, and elevated levels of hostility [1,2,3,4,5,6]. These symptoms are not uncommon during psychological stress in persons without a history of PTSD [7,8,9,10], but the precise relationship between the normal, psychobiological adaptations to stress and the expression of PTSD psychoand physiopathology is not well characterized, especially in young adults. If factors associated with chronic arousal and adaptation to stress are associated with subclinical PTSD-like symptoms, it may be possible to better understand precursors and potential new preventive and treatment strategies for persons with frank PTSD and its underlying cardiovascular comorbidities in healthy, young adults
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