Intrusive Symptoms Research Articles

The Psychological Health of Iranian Citizens Protesting the Actions of Their Country's Morality Police: La santé psychologique des citoyens iraniens qui manifestent contre les actions de la police des mœurs de leur pays.

To determine the mental health of Iranian citizens protesting the actions of their country's Morality Police. Street protests across Iran were met with violent suppression that included security forces reportedly targeting protestors' eyes. A group of 63 Iranian protestors (58.7% female; mean age 32.0 [SD = 9.43] years, from all socio-economic classes) who had been part of street protests against the regime's morality police, was recruited by convenience sampling between May and August 2023 by journalists working underground in Iran. The study was conducted in Farsi by telephone (n = 60) and in-person (n = 3). Demographic and psychometric data were collected, the latter including symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Impact of Events Scale-Revised) and depression (Beck Depression Inventory-Revised), in Farsi-validated scales. Between-group comparisons were undertaken with one-way ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey comparisons. Significance was set at P < 0.05. The protestors comprised three groups: not wounded (n = 27: 59.26% female, mean age 34.44 [SD = 12.11] years), non-eye wound (n = 23; 60.87% female, mean age 32.61 [SD = 5.89] years) and eye-wound (n = 13; 53.85% female, mean age 27.54 [SD = 6.58] years). The eye wound group (blinded in one or both eyes) had less severe intrusion symptoms of PTSD (P = 0.048) and depression (P = 0.0001) than the non-eye wound group. The not wounded group had less severe symptoms of depression than the non-eye wound group (P = 0.003). Every protestor who had lost sight regarded their actions, notwithstanding their physical consequences, in a positive psychological light. Contrary to our a-prior hypothesis, Iranian protestors blinded in one or both eyes were faring better psychologically than protestors with non-eye wounds. Possible reasons for this included higher rates of psychological treatment and social support in the eye-wound group compared to the other two groups post-injury and the nascent development of posttraumatic growth.

Specific symptom change associated with ecological momentary assessments of intrusive trauma memories

As the global prevalence of exposure to traumatic events rises, there is a growing need for accessible and scalable treatments for trauma-related disorders like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Intrusive reexperiencing symptoms, such as trauma-related intrusive memories (TR-IMs), are central to PTSD and a target of gold-standard treatments that are effective but resource-intensive. This study examined whether completing a brief ecological momentary assessment (EMA) protocol assessing the occurrence and phenomenology of TR-IMs was associated with decreases in intrusion symptom severity. Trauma-exposed adults (N = 139) experiencing at least 2 TR-IMs per week related to a DSM-5 criterion A traumatic event completed a 2-week EMA protocol. During this period, they reported on 18 sensory-perceptual and affective qualities of their TR-IMs three times per day and on posttraumatic stress symptom severity at day’s end. Longitudinal symptom measurements were entered into linear mixed-effects models to test the effect of Time on symptom severity. Over the 2-week protocol, intrusion symptom severity decreased, while other symptom cluster scores did not change. Within the intrusion symptoms, this effect was specific to TR-IMs and emotional reactivity to trauma reminders, and was not moderated by survey completion rate, total PTSD symptom severity, ongoing treatment, or time since trauma. This study was quasi-experimental and lacked a control group, therefore no definitive conclusions about clinical utility can be made. Nonetheless, these findings provide preliminary proof-of-principle and warrant future clinical trials assessing the clinical efficacy of EMAs of intrusive trauma memories as a scalable treatment option targeting intrusive memory symptoms.

Transcranial electrical stimulation in post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injury: possibilities of tuning neuronal networks

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is used to strengthen the inhibitory control of amygdala activity. However, there are still limited meta-analytic studies examining different tDCS protocols on core PTSD symptoms and the relationship between stimulation parameters and effect size. The objective is to investigate the effectiveness of such an intervention, which is a complex combination of a psychotherapy program with tDCS in the treatment of patients with PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) by assessing their level of functioning. 329 veterans (PTSD (n=109), mTBI (n=112), PTSD + mTBI (n=108) were examined using WHODAS 2.0. Standardized treatment was provided as well as psy­chotherapeutic intervention - a combination of psychoeducation with motivational interviewing and acceptance and commitment therapy for PTSD and tDCS. Clinical targets of therapy in the PTSD group were symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, hyperactivation and protocol of tDCS was dorsolateral prefrontal cortex arousing stimulation. In PTSD + TBI group clinical targets were neurocognitive symptoms, intrusion symptoms, avoidance, hyperactivation and tDCT protocol was motor cortex-supraorbital area inhibitory stimulation. The targest for TBI group was neurocognitive symptoms and tDCS protocol was occipital region exciting stimulation. The long-term effectiveness and the impact on neuroplasticity processes allow considering transcranial direct current stimulation as a promising method of neurorehabilitation of patients with a combination of posttraumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury.

Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of Servicemen with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Introduction The growing number of servicemen injured during the war in Ukraine creates a need for effective social and psychological rehabilitation and the identification of early signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Aims The aim of the study is to identify the need for psychological support for the rehabilitation of servicemen with PTSD. Methods The study employed the Primary Care PTSD Screen (Screen PC-PTSD), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Rogers-Diamond Socio-psychological Adaptation Test. The statistics were processed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and regression analysis. Results This study reported that 29.65% of the servicemen showed signs of PTSD and observed symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal. It was established that PTSD symptoms reduced the indicators of physical (R2=0.634, p&lt;0.001) and psychological (R2=0.607, p&lt;0.001) components of the quality of life of the servicemen, as well as socio-psychological adaptation (R2=0.576, p&lt;0.001). Conclusion Among the studied servicemen, almost 30% demonstrated signs of PTSD, emphasizing the relevance of the studied problem. The identified negative impact of PTSD on the quality of life of the servicemen proved the importance of their complex social and psychological rehabilitation, involving the use of specific means at each stage. The obtained results can be used in the development of an algorithm for providing socio-psychological assistance to servicemen with signs of PTSD.

Mechanisms of psilocybin on the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can develop after a traumatic event, causing distressing symptoms, including intrusive re-experiencing symptoms, alterations in mood and cognition, and changes in arousal and reactivity. Few treatment options exist for patients who find conventional psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy to be inaccessible, ineffective, or intolerable. We explore psilocybin as a potential treatment option for PTSD by examining the neurobiology of PTSD as well as psilocybin's mechanism of action. Based on both pharmacodynamic and psychoanalytic principles, psilocybin may be an underexplored treatment option for patients with PTSD, though further research is required.

Understanding Intensive Care Unit Family Caregivers' Vulnerability to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Impact of Neurotic Personality Traits, Emotional Suppression, and Perceptions of Unexpected Death.

Rationale: Family members of patients who die in an intensive care unit (ICU) are at heightened risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Not all surrogates develop these symptoms and heterogeneity exists in PTSD symptom clusters. Objectives: The study tested a personality model of PTSD symptoms in bereaved family caregivers of ICU patients. It was hypothesized that family members endorsing higher levels of neurotic personality traits would report higher levels of PTSD symptom clusters and that these associations would be explained by tendencies to view the patient's death as unexpected and to cope by suppressing their emotions. Methods: Participants were family members of ICU patients at an urban, academic medical center who either died or were discharged to an inpatient hospice unit. Participants were contacted for participation at least six months after the patient's death. Participants completed measures of personality, emotion regulation, and PTSD symptoms. Data were analyzed using path analysis. Results: Approximately one-third (35%) of the sample of 162 caregivers endorsed at-risk levels of PTSD. Individuals reporting higher levels of neurotic personality traits reported more PTSD symptoms (r = 0.53, p < 0.001). Perceptions that the patient death was unexpected partially explained the association of neuroticism with the intrusive re-experiencing PTSD symptoms (B = 0.45, p = 0.031). In contrast, emotional suppression partially explained the association of neuroticism with avoidance (B = 0.70, p = 0.010) and hyperarousal symptom clusters (B = 0.37, p = 0.041). Conclusions: Family vulnerability to PTSD after an ICU death can be conceptualized based on neurotic personality traits. Tendencies to view the patient's death as unexpected may contribute to intrusive thoughts and memories of the ICU experience. Individuals may avoid reminders and remain at heightened levels of arousal when they suppress their emotional experiences. Key Message: Family members who experience the death of a loved one following ICU treatment are vulnerable to PTSD symptoms. These reactions to ICU-related losses may be shaped by family members' personalities, expectations, and emotion regulation styles. Understanding these characteristics could inform family screening and intervention efforts in the ICU.

Cortisol and cortisone determination by disposable pipette extraction (DPX) and ultra-efficient liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) in urine and saliva samples from patients with Parkinson's disease.

Higher serum cortisol levels appear to be associated with stress that can overlap or manifest anxiety, fatigue, depression, and sleep dysfunction. These are common and intrusive non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Thus, stress has been proposed to mediate Parkinson's disease development, and cortisol has been suggested as a biomarker for the generation of stress-related symptoms in Parkinson's disease. This study describes sensitive and robust disposable pipette extraction (DPX) and ultra-efficient liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method to determine cortisol and cortisone (as potential endocrine biomarkers for Parkinson's disease) in 24-h urine and saliva samples obtained from Parkinson's disease patients. Important parameters on DPX extraction were optimized to achieve the best extraction recovery and cleanup efficiency. The proposed method was linear from 0.5 (lower limit of quantification) to 500ngmL-1 for cortisol and from 3.0 (lower limit of quantification) to 500ngmL-1 for cortisone. To determine whether urinary cortisol and urinary cortisone are adequate as biomarkers to evaluate the level of anxiety in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, twenty-nine Parkinson's disease patients (18 with anxiety and 11 without anxiety) were selected for urine analysis. Based on the obtained results, 24-h urine samples obtained from Parkinson's disease patients with anxiety had higher cortisone levels than samples obtained from healthy controls. Receiving operating curves (ROC) analysis, which presented the area under the ROC curve (AUC = 0.733), showed that urinary cortisone levels (µg/24-h urine) were sensitive (56.3%) and specific (93.3%) for distinguishing Parkinson's disease patients with anxiety from healthy controls. In terms of salivary results, PD patients' samples taken 30min after waking up had higher cortisol and cortisone levels than healthy controls, while their samples taken at night had lower cortisol and cortisone levels.

Effectiveness of Imagery Rescripting for Trauma-Affected Voice Hearers: An Open Trial.

People who hear voices (auditory verbal hallucinations) often have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Cognitive behavioural therapies (CBT) have yielded inconsistent findings when treating voices and PTSD symptoms in voice hearers. Preliminary evidence suggests imagery rescripting (ImRs) is associated with large reductions in voice hearing and PTSD symptoms. This study replicated past studies using a larger sample to examine the effectiveness of ImRs in reducing such symptoms. Participants (N = 49; 65.3% female; Mage = 35.86) were clients at an Australian transdiagnostic clinic for voice hearers. A one-arm open trial design was used with three pre-treatment baselines and a mid-treatment, post-treatment and 3-month follow up assessments of PTSD symptoms (Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale for DSM-5), voices (Hamilton Program for Schizophrenia Voices Questionnaire) and emotional symptoms (Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales-21). Five single-item measures were administered weekly to explore the trajectories of change in trauma intrusions, voice-related distress, voice frequency and positive and negative voice valance. ImRs was associated with very large reductions in PTSD symptoms and voices (both emotional and physical characteristics of voices) and emotional symptoms at post-treatment and follow-up (η2 p = 0.24-0.44). There were medium-large to large reductions in weekly symptoms of intrusions, voice-related distress, voice frequency and negative voices (η2 p = 0.12-0.16) and a non-significant increase in positive voices (η2 p = 0.05). This study provides further evidence that ImRs is an effective treatment for voices and PTSD symptoms in voice hearers with a range of diagnoses. Randomised controlled trials are needed to compare the efficacy of ImRs to CBT protocols.

Gender differences in posttraumatic stress symptoms, marital satisfaction, and parenting behaviors in adults following typhoon Lekima.

Belsky's parenting model provides insight into the relationship between parental psychological status and parenting behaviors. However, little is known about the unique associations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms with specific parenting behaviors. This study aimed to assess the associations of PTSD symptoms and three types of parenting behaviors (rejection, emotional warmth, and overprotection) with marital satisfaction, and to examine gender differences in these associations. Self-report questionnaires were used to survey 4,570 parents 3 months after Typhoon Lekima in China. The results showed that intrusion and avoidance symptoms had positively indirect associations with emotional warmth and negatively indirect associations with rejection and overprotection via marital satisfaction. However, negative cognitive and emotional alterations (NCEA) and hyperarousal symptoms had opposite relationships with three types of parenting behavior. A gender-moderated mediation relationship was found in the associations of PTSD symptoms and parenting behaviors via marital satisfaction. Marital satisfaction played a mediating role in the relationships between four PTSD symptom clusters and three types of parenting behavior in mothers, whereas in fathers, marital satisfaction mediated only the relationships of NCEA and hyperarousal symptoms with three types of parenting behavior. Marital satisfaction mediated the associations between four distinct PTSD symptom clusters and three types of parenting behavior, and a gender difference was found to be in these indirect relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Reflecting on JMVFH’s most popular article of 2015: ‘Remediation of intrusive symptoms of PTSD in fewer than five sessions: A 30-person pre-pilot study of the RTM Protocol’

Reflecting on <i>JMVFH</i>’s most popular article of 2015: ‘Remediation of intrusive symptoms of PTSD in fewer than five sessions: A 30-person pre-pilot study of the RTM Protocol’

Remediation of intrusive symptoms of PTSD in fewer than five sessions: A 30-person pre-pilot study of the RTM Protocol

Introduction: The Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories (RTM) Protocol is a brief non-traumatizing intervention for the intrusive symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is supported by nearly 25 years of anecdotal and clinical reports. This study reports the first scientific evaluation of the protocol. Methods: A 30-person pilot study using male Veterans with a pre-existing diagnosis of PTSD. Intake criteria included interviews and confirmatory re-diagnosis using the PTSD Checklist–Military version (PCL-M). Of 33 people who met the inclusion criteria, 26 completed treatment using the RTM protocol. A small ( n = 5) wait-list control group was included. All participants were reassessed following treatment using the PCL-M. Results: Of 26 program completers, 25 (96%) were symptom free at 6-week follow-up. Mean PCL-M score at intake was 61 points. At the 6-week follow-up, the mean PCL-M score was 28.8, with a mean reduction in scores of 33 points. Hedges’ g was computed for 6-week follow-up and showed a 2.9 SD difference from intake to follow-up. A wait-list control analysis indicated non-significant symptom changes during the 2-week wait period. Discussion: Results suggest that RTM is a promising intervention worthy of further investigation.

Controlled Inhalation of Tetrahydrocannabinol-Predominant Cannabis Flos Mitigates Severity of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Improves Quality of Sleep and General Mood in Cannabis-Experienced UK Civilians: A Real-World, Observational Study

Introduction: Approximately 4% of the UK population experiences PTSD. Individuals must exhibit symptoms across four clusters to receive a diagnosis: intrusion, avoidance, altered reactivity, and altered mood. Evidence suggests that cannabinoid agonists such as nabilone and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may alleviate PTSD symptoms. We investigated the safety and effectiveness of THC-predominant cannabis flowers for inhalation to manage PTSD symptoms in a real-world setting. Methods: We analysed data from the UK patient registry, T21. Validated questionnaires were used to collect PROMs for health-related quality of life (HRQoL), mood/anxiety, sleep, and PTSD-specific symptoms. Inclusion criteria were (i) a confirmed diagnosis of PTSD, (ii) completed PROMs questionnaires at baseline and at the 3-month follow-up, and (iii) received a prescription for a chemotype 1 (THC-predominant) cannabis flower. Results: Fifty-eight patients were included, 34 of which also had PROMs recorded at 6 months. Most were males (65.5%) with an average age of 39.2 years who had previously used cannabis illicitly (95.6%). At 3 months, participants reported significant improvements in overall health, mood, and sleep quality (p < 0.001) but not in the proxy for HRQoL (p = 0.052). Similarly, participants reported substantial benefits in managing intrusion symptoms (p < 0.001), mood alterations (p < 0.001), and reactivity alterations (p = 0.002), which were sustained or further improved at 6 months. Participants did not report any side effects associated with CBMPs. Conclusions: Inhalation of THC is well tolerated and useful for managing symptoms of PTSD in cannabis-experienced individuals. However, further research is needed to evaluate the long-term safety and outcomes of controlled inhalation of CBMP in patients naïve to cannabis.

Distress reactions and susceptibility to misinformation for an analogue trauma event

Accuracy of memory is critical in legal and clinical contexts. These contexts are often linked with high levels of emotional distress and social sources that can provide potentially distorting information about stressful events. This study investigated how distress was associated with susceptibility to misinformation about a trauma analogue event. We employed an experimental design whereby in Phase 1, participants (N = 243, aged 20–72, 122 females, 117 males, 4 gender diverse) watched a trauma film (car crash) and heard an audio summary that contained misinformation (misled items), true reminders (consistent items), and no reminders (control items) about the film. Participants rated their total distress, and symptoms of avoidance, intrusions, and hyperarousal, in response to the film. They then completed cued recall, recognition, and source memory tasks. One week later in Phase 2, participants (N = 199) completed the same measures again. Generalised linear mixed models were used. A significant misinformation effect was found, and importantly, participants with higher distress levels showed a smaller misinformation effect, owing to especially poor memory for consistent items compared to their less distressed counterparts. Distress was also associated with improved source memory for misled items. Avoidance of the film’s reminders was associated with a smaller misinformation effect during immediate retrieval and a larger misinformation effect during delayed retrieval. Findings suggest that distress is associated with decreased susceptibility to misinformation in some cases, but also associated with poorer memory accuracy in general. Limitations are discussed, and the need for further research is highlighted.

Implementation of trauma-informed care strategies in a comprehensive maternal-fetal care center.

To identify traumatic stress symptoms among expectant parents with a confirmed congenital anomaly and describe the ways in which a maternal-fetal care center, with an embedded multidisciplinary psychosocial support team, provides specific trauma-informed strategies to mitigate psychological distress from the first patient contact throughout prenatal care practice. Traumatic stress symptoms in response to the confirmed congenital anomaly were assessed using the Impact of Events Scale-Revised. With Institutional Review Board approval, a total of 4,391 pregnant parents and 3,570 partners were analyzed based on routine universal screening performed in a single maternal-fetal care center. Exploratory, descriptive analyses examined rates of overall traumatic stress symptoms and subscale scores. 28.7% of pregnant parents and 24.2% of expectant partners reported elevated traumatic stress symptoms in response to their confirmed congenital anomaly, with clinically significant risk endorsed among 16.2% and 13.4%, respectively. Symptoms of intrusion and avoidance were most notable among parents. Methods of trauma-informed care provided by the multidisciplinary care team in collaboration with the psychosocial support team to identify, support, and intervene with high-risk parents are described. Recognizing that expectant parents who receive a prenatal diagnosis of a congenital anomaly are at heightened risk for experiencing traumatic stress symptoms, multidisciplinary care teams should offer trauma-informed strategies and psychosocial support services, including parental mental health screening, psychosocial assessment, and clinical intervention, as part of routine prenatal care to reduce the negative effect of emotional distress in the expectant parents prior to birth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

War's unseen wounds: Physical proximity to the war, event centrality, and PTSD symptoms in the context of Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict: A moderating model.

The present study investigated the factors associated with posttraumatic stress manifestations among the civilian population in the proximity of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which commenced on February 24, 2022. We aimed to test the moderating role of proximity to the war on the relationships between event centrality and intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal. The research was conducted on a sample of 676 participants (23.4% males and 76.6% females) aged between 18 and 56 years old (M = 33.88; SD = 10.66). The participants consisted of civilians residing either within Ukraine or outside its borders, with a maximum distance of 100 km from the border at the onset of the conflict. They completed questionnaires designed to assess event centrality and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. The results of the present study highlighted the role of both psychological and physical proximity to the war in predicting posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms of intrusions and hyperarousal. Also, event centrality interacted with the physical distance to the war in predicting intrusions and avoidance. The present study contributes to the understanding of the studied variables in the context of the war between Ukraine and Russia, as well as to a deeper comprehension of how physical proximity is related to individual emotional outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents Bullied Because of Weight: A Feasibility Study.

The objective of this study was to test the feasibility and acceptability of a treatment for weight bullying. Participants who had experienced weight-related bullying and were currently experiencing traumatic stress were recruited and enrolled in a feasibility trial of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy for eating disorders (TF-CBT-WB). Thirty adolescents (aged 11-17) were determined eligible and 28 began treatment (12 weeks). This study demonstrated the treatment feasibility and acceptability of TF-CBT-WB for adolescents with traumatic stress following weight-bullying experiences. Overall retention and treatment satisfaction were good. Within-subjects improvements were observed for intrusion symptoms of traumatic stress, global eating-disorder severity, overvaluation of weight/shape, dissatisfaction with weight/shape, dietary restraint, and depression. Clinically-meaningful improvements were attained for several patient outcomes. Clinically-meaningful decreases in functional impairment were attained by more than half of the participants. Overall, this clinical trial testing TF-CBT-WB for adolescents experiencing traumatic stress following weight-bulling experiences demonstrated therapy feasibility, acceptability, and initial evidence that clinically-meaningful improvements in patient outcomes were feasible. However, some patient outcomes thought to be more central to how the youth viewed the world failed to show improvements, suggesting that additional content related to these constructs might yield greater benefit. This pilot study was registered on clinicaltrials.gov: NCT04587752, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Weight-related Bullying.

Unraveling PTSD: Symptom cluster change during and 1 year after veterans' residential PTSD treatment.

Although treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is effective in reducing symptom severity, remission rates are low. One potential underlying reason for treatment ineffectiveness is differential response of specific PTSD symptom clusters. Using data from a national Veterans Affairs (VA) residential PTSD treatment cohort, we conducted a longitudinal study to examine changes in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition PTSD symptom clusters from admission to 1-year follow-up. PTSD symptom data were analyzed from a national cohort of veterans who completed VA PTSD residential treatment between October 2019 and September 2020 (n = 1,648; 13% women; median age 44.2 years). Endorsement (%) and severity (M[SD]) of PTSD clusters and individual symptoms were compared at admission, discharge, 4-month and 1-year follow-ups. Large magnitude reductions in all four PTSD symptom clusters were observed from admission to discharge and both follow-ups; however, endorsement of all symptom clusters remained high. Intrusions (Cluster B) were the most highly endorsed at discharge and follow-up, whereas avoidance symptoms (Cluster C) were the least highly endorsed. Differential patterns of change were observed among the 20 individual PTSD symptoms; for example, flashbacks decreased during treatment, but increased to near admission levels by 1-year postdischarge. Results suggest that intrusive symptoms may be more resistant to residential treatment for PTSD and contribute to lower likelihood of treatment success. Future work is needed to examine differential treatment response for PTSD clusters, to inform the improvement of current and creation of novel treatment interventions, and to better address intrusive symptoms to maximize PTSD treatment gains. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

EMDR and standard psychotherapy for paediatric cancer patients and their families: a pilot study.

This study examined the efficacy of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy compared with standard psychotherapy (SP) in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in paediatric oncology patients and their families in the early stage of cancer treatment. The secondary aim of this study was to assess whether EMDR therapy has a different impact on post-traumatic growth compared to SP. Forty patients were randomly assigned to EMDR or SP groups. The Impact of Event Scale - Revised (IES-R) and the Distress Thermometer (DT) were used to assess PTSD symptoms at pre-treatment (at cancer diagnosis) and in the post-treatment stages (after 8 sessions). The Post-traumatic Growth Inventory-PTGI was administered in the post-treatment stage in order to evaluate positive changes. Both EMDR and SP are effective in reducing PTSD, but EMDR was significantly more effective than the SP in reducing scores on the IES-R, especially regarding the intrusive symptom subscale. Also, in the EMDR group there were higher scores of PTGI than in the standard group. EMDR thus represents a promising treatment in the paediatric psycho-oncology setting.

Sex-specific alterations in visual properties induced by single prolonged stress model

Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exhibit sex differences in symptomology, with women more likely to report higher rates of intrusive and avoidance symptoms than men, underscoring the need for sex-informed approaches to research and treatment. Our study delved into the sex-specific aspects of stress-induced visual impairments using the single prolonged stress (SPS) model, a partially validated rodent model for PTSD. Male SPS mice exhibit heightened optimal spatial frequency (SF) of primary visual cortex (V1) neurons, while female counterparts exhibit decreased optimal temporal frequency (TF) of V1 neurons. This phenomenon persisted until the 29th day after SPS modeling, and it may be the physiological basis for the observed increase in visual acuity in male SPS mice in visual water task. Furthermore, our study found that corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 regulated optimal TF and optimal SF of V1 in mice, but did not exhibit sex differences. These findings indicated that severe stress induces sex-specific effects on visual function.

Unveiling temporal dynamics of PTSD and its functional impairments: A longitudinal study in UK healthcare workers

PTSD has been associated with negative long-term consequences, including social and occupational impairments. Yet, a nuanced understanding of the interplay between PTSD symptoms and distinct domains of impairments on a short-term basis (weeks/ months) at the within-person level remains underexplored. In a large sample (nwave 1 = 1096, nwave 7 = 304) of UK healthcare workers assessed across seven assessment waves during the COVID-19 pandemic (spaced 6 weeks apart), we employed exploratory graphical vector autoregression models (GVAR) models to discern within-person temporal (across time) and contemporaneous (within same time window) dynamics between PTSD symptoms and functional impairment domains. The contemporaneous network highlighted strong co-occurrences between different symptoms and impairments. The temporal network revealed a mutually reinforcing cycle between intrusion and avoidance symptoms. Intrusion symptoms showed the highest out-strength (i.e., most predictive symptom), predicting avoidance symptoms, elevated sense of current threat, and various functional impairments. Avoidance symptoms, elevated after increased levels of intrusions, predicted work impairments that in turn were associated with difficulties in fulfilling other obligations. Our findings underscore the dynamics between perceived threat and intrusions, and the role intrusions may play in predicting a cascade of adverse effects. Targeted interventions aimed at mitigating intrusions may disrupt this negative cycle.