Post-traumatic stress disorder

This is a bundle about Post-traumatic stress disorder. In this bundle, it is described how post-traumatic stress disorder is diagnosed and some theoretical background.

Bundle items:

Predictors of Post-traumatic stress disorder - a summary of two meta-analysis

Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults.Brewin, C.R., Andrews, B., & Valentine, J.D. (2000).Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(5), 748-766.Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and symptoms in adults: a meta-anlaysisOzer, Weiss & Lipsey 2003 Exposure to trauma may not always be sufficient to explain the development of PTSD, but when people are exposed to traumatic events, the risk of PTSD is enhanced reliably. Individual vulnerability factors have a role to play in understanding PTSD. The strongest predictors of PTSD are factors occuring during of after the trauma.Gender, age at trauma and race predict PTSD in some populations, but not others. Education, previous trauma and general childhood adversity predicts PTSD more consistently but to a varying extend. Psychiatric history, reported childhood abuse, and family psychiatric history have predictive effects.By a relatively small extent, the risk of PTSD is enhanced by the effects of: female gender, greater social, educational and intellectual disadvantages, psychiatric history and various types of previous adversity The risk of PTSD is enhanced by factors occurring during or after the trauma like: peritraumatic dissociation, preceived support, preceived life threat and peritraumatic emotions. ...

Lees verder over Predictors of Post-traumatic stress disorder - a summary of two meta-analysis

Reformulating PTSD for DSM-V: Life after Criterion - a summary of an article by Brewin, Lanius, Novac, Schnyder and Galea (2009)

Reformulating PTSD for DSM-V: Life after CriterionBrewin, C.R., Lanius, R.A., Novac, A., Schnyder, U., & Galea, S. (2009)A. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22, 366-373. The diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder has been criticised on three main reasons, namely: 1) the alleged pathologizing of normal events 2) the inadequacy of criterion A 3) symptom overlap with other disorders.PTSD has a multifactorial etiology. Criticism 1: PTSD pathologizes normal distress One criticism of PTSD is that it creates a medical condition out of normal distress. Studies show that extreme stress sometimes leads to severe and long-lasting psychopathology, as well as to a variety of serious medical conditions. A popular view currently is that PTSD reflects a failure of adaptation, whereby normal reactions to extreme stress do not correct themselves. What is pathological about PTSD is defined by the persistence of its symptoms. Evidence supports a distinctive biological profile associated with PTSD. Criticism 2: inadequacy of criterion AThree fundamental issues with the A criterion are: 1) how broadly or narrowly should trauma be defined? 2) can trauma be measured reliably and validly? 3) what is the relationship between trauma and PTSD?Trauma is not exclusively associated with PTSD. Other disorders are linked to traumatic (criterion A) events Trauma is associated with an increased prevalence of other disorders. If these can be...

Lees verder over Reformulating PTSD for DSM-V: Life after Criterion - a summary of an article by Brewin, Lanius, Novac, Schnyder and Galea (2009)

Testing a DSM-5 reformulation of posttraumatic stress disorder: Impact on prevalence and comorbidity among treatment-seeking civilian trauma survivors - summary of an article by Van Emmerik & Kamphuis (2011)

Testing a DSM-5 reformulation of posttraumatic stress disorder: Impact on prevalence and comorbidity among treatment-seeking civilian trauma survivors - summary of an article by Van Emmerik & Kamphuis (2011)

Testing a DSM-5 reformulation of posttraumatic stress disorder: Impact on prevalence and comorbidity among treatment-seeking civilian trauma survivors.Van Emmerik, A.A.P., & Kamphuis, J.H. (2011).Journal of Traumatic Stress, 24, 213-217. The Brewin criteria for PTSD suggest abolishing criterion A, and retaining a subset of symptoms from criteria B to D, as well as the duration (criterion E) and impairment (criterion F) criteria. The symptom criteria Brewin proposes are: 1) distressing dreams 2) vivid daytie images or flashbacks 3) avoidance of internal trauma reminders 4) hypervigilance 5) exaggerated startle response. The Brewin criteria do no appreciably affect overall PTSD prevalence or comorbidity. They do impact diagnostic status at the individual level. Approximately two-thirds of participants who lost the PTSD diagnosis qualified for treatment for a comorbid disorder. Reducing symptom overlap of PTSD with depression and anxiety disorders did not reduce comorbidity. Criterion A is not essential to diagnosing PTSD. ...

Lees verder over Testing a DSM-5 reformulation of posttraumatic stress disorder: Impact on prevalence and comorbidity among treatment-seeking civilian trauma survivors - summary of an article by Van Emmerik & Kamphuis (2011)

Comparison of DSM-IV and proposed ICD-11 formulations of PTSD among civilian survivors of war and war veterans - summary of an article by Morina et al. (2014)

Comparison of DSM-IV and proposed ICD-11 formulations of PTSD among civilian survivors of war and war veteransMorina, N., Van Emmerik, A.A.P., Andrews, B., & Brewin, C.R. (2014).Journal of Traumatic Stress, 27, 647-654 Proposals for the ICD-11 have included a reduction and simplification in the symptoms required for a PTSD diagnosis. An proposed innovation involves specifying core elements rather than typical features of PTSD. Core elements are those that on empirical or theoretical grounds most clearly distinguish PTSD from other disorders.Core elements consist of: 1) re-experiencing the traumatic event(s) in the present, a evidenced by either flashbacks or nightmares, accompanied by fear or horror. Flashbacks are intrusive waking memories in which re-experiencing in the present can vary from a transient sensation to a complete disconnection from the current environment. 2) Avoidance of intrusions, evidenced by marked internal avoidance of thoughts and memories, or external avoidance of activities or situations 3) Excessive sense of current threat, evidenced by hypervigilane or exaggerated startle.PTSD is defined in terms of the presence of at least one of the two symptoms of each of these core elements. In addition there must be impairment in functioning. The new approach proposed for ICD-11 need not make a substantial difference to PTSD prevalence.The 17 symptoms described in the DSM-IV are not all required to access PTSD. More individuals meet the avoidance criterion in the ICD-11 system. The reduced set of symptoms led to less comorbidity. ...

Lees verder over Comparison of DSM-IV and proposed ICD-11 formulations of PTSD among civilian survivors of war and war veterans - summary of an article by Morina et al. (2014)

A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder - summary of an article by Ehlers & Clark (2000)

A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorderEhlers, A., & Clark, D.M. (2000)Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319-345. PTSD becomes persistent when individuals process trauma in a way that leads to a sense of serous, current threat. This sense of threat arises as a consequence of: 1) excessively negative appraisals of the trauma and/or its sequelae 2) a disturbance of autobiographical memory. This is characterized by poor elaboration and contextualisation, strong associative memory and strong perceptual priming.Change in the negative appraisals and trauma memory are prevented by a series of problematic behavioural and cognitive strategies. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) include: 1) repeated and unwanted re-experiencing of the event 2) hyperarousal 3) emotional numbing 4) avoidance of stimuli (including thoughts) which could serve as reminders for the event. Overview PTSD occurs only if individuals process the traumatic event and/or its sequealae in a way which produces a sense of serious current threat. Two processes lead to a sense of current threat 1) individual differences in the appraisal of the trauma and/or its sequelae 2) individual differences in the nature of the memory for the event and its link to other autobiographical memories.Once activated, the perception of current threat is accompanied by intrusions and other reexperiencing symptoms, symptoms of arousal, anxiety and other emotional responses. The perceived threat motivates a series of...

Lees verder over A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder - summary of an article by Ehlers & Clark (2000)

Psychological theories of posttraumatic stress disorder - summary of an article by Brewin & Holmes (2003)

Psychological theories of posttraumatic stress disorder.Brewin, C.R., & Holmes, E.A. (2003)Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 339-376 Memory and PTSDIn PTSD, there are a number of changes in memory functioning that are comparable with depressed patients: 1) a bias toward enhanced recall of trauma-related material 2) difficulties in retrieving autobiographical memories of specific incidents.Specific changes in memory of PTSD are: 1) a contradictory patterns of recall related to the traumatic material itself. High levels of emotions are in some studies associated with more vivid and long-lasting memories, but in others with vague memories, lacking in detail and error prone. PTSD is described as characterized by both high-frequency, distressing, intrusive memories and by amnesia for the details of the event. 2) the reliving of memories, or flashbacks to the trauma. Flashbacks are dominated by sensory detail. These images and sensations are typically disjointed and fragmentary. Reliving is reflected in a distortion in the sense of time, such that the traumatic event seems to be happening in the present rather than belonging in the past. Reliving episodes are triggered involuntarily by specific reminders that relate in some way to the circumstances of the trauma. Flashbacks are a distinctive feature of PTSD. Individual differences in working memory capacity appear to be related to the ability to prevent unwanted material from intruding and negatively affecting task performance. Attention and PTSD Research does not provide evidence that the effects of an attentional bias are unique to PTSD. Dissociation and PTSD...