Psychometric properties of the German version of the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) in clinical routine settings: study design and protocol of a multitrait-multimethod study

Neural correlates of context-dependent extinction recall in social anxiety disorder: relevance of intrusions in response to aversive social experiences

BACKGROUND

There are phenomenological similarities between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and posttraumatic stress disorder, such as a provoking aversive event, posttraumatic stress symptoms (e.g. intrusions) in response to these events and deficient (context-dependent) fear conditioning processes. This study investigated the neural correlates of context-dependent extinction recall and fear renewal in SAD, specifically in patients with intrusions in response to an etiologically relevant aversive social event.

METHODS

During functional magnetic resonance imaging a two-day context-dependent fear conditioning paradigm was conducted in 54 patients with SAD and 54 healthy controls (HC). This included fear acquisition (context A) and extinction learning (context B) on one day, and extinction recall (context B) as well as fear renewal (contexts C and A) one day later. The main outcome measures were blood oxygen level-dependent responses in regions of interest and skin conductance responses.

RESULTS

Patients with SAD showed reduced differential conditioned amygdala activation during extinction recall in the safe extinction context and during fear renewal in the acquisition context compared to HC. Patients with clinically relevant intrusions moreover exhibited hypoactivation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) during extinction learning, extinction recall, and fear renewal in a novel context, while amygdala activation more strongly decreased during extinction learning and increased during fear renewal in the acquisition context compared with patients without intrusions.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provides first evidence that intrusions in SAD are associated with similar deficits in context-dependent regulation of conditioned fear via the vmPFC as previously demonstrated in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Prevalence and influencing factors of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder in patients with myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack (TIA) and stroke - an exploratory, descriptive study

BACKGROUND

Cardio- and cerebrovascular events such as myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) are leading causes of death and disability and have also been associated with poor mental outcomes. In addition, cardio- and cerebrovascular events may pose the risk of experiencing a sudden traumatic occurrence of symptoms during ictus and thus contribute to high rates of PTSD as well as high rates of subsequent depression and anxiety. Moreover, MI, TIA and stroke survivors with PTSD, depressive and anxiety symptoms may have poorer health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and poorer disease prognosis than patients who do not develop psychiatric symptoms after ictus. However, data on the prevalence of PTSD, anxiety and depression, as well as the HRQoL, coping strategies and potential risk factors for development of PTSD in these patients, are rare.

METHODS

In an exploratory, descriptive study we interviewed 112 patients (54 MI, 18 TIA, 40 stroke; mean age: 69.5 years, 55.4% males) from three general physician practices and used psychometric self-assessment tools to determine the occurrence of PTSD and psychosomatic comorbidity, anxiety and depression and to assess HRQoL and coping strategies. We evaluated disease severity and compared the patient groups to each other. Moreover, we assessed psychological outcome differences between patients with or without PTSD after ictus.

RESULTS

The prevalence of PTSD after MI, TIA and stroke was 23.2%. The patients who developed PTSD had higher rates of depression, anxiety and maladaptive coping as well as reduced HRQoL. Adaptive coping was positively related to better mental HRQoL and negatively related to anxiety and depression. Disease severity of MI, TIA and stroke was not related to PTSD, depression, anxiety or physical HRQoL.

CONCLUSIONS

Experiencing MI, TIA or stroke means confronting a life-threatening event for those affected and, therefore, these can be regarded as traumatic events. Cerebral and cardiovascular events increase the risk of developing chronic PTSD with subsequent increased depression and anxiety and reduced HRQoL. These findings emphasize the need for early screening and diagnosis of PTSD in somatically ill patients, which should be followed by specialized treatment, as PTSD hampers overall (somatic) disease prognosis.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS00021730, https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00021730 , registered 05/19/2020 - Retrospectively registered.

Associations Between Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Deployed Service Members of the German Armed Forces

BACKGROUND

Experiencing a traumatic event can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but not every traumatized person develops PTSD. Several protective and risk factors have been identified in civilians and veterans to explain why some individuals develop PTSD and others do not. However, no research has confirmed the relationship between emotion regulation and PTSD in deployed German Armed Forces service members after a foreign assignment. Previous studies have identified some protective factors, such as social support, social acknowledgment, specific personal values, and posttraumatic growth, as well as risk factors, like moral injury and emotion regulation. Thus, the aim of the present study is to confirm the relationship between emotion regulation and PTSD and to test for factors that are associated with higher severity of PTSD symptoms in such a sample.

METHODS

A post-hoc secondary analysis was conducted on data collected in a randomized controlled trial. Participants (N = 72) were male active and former military service members that have returned from deployment and were recruited from the German Armed Forces. These participants were separated into two groups according to PTSD diagnosis based on the results of a structured diagnostic interview. Data from evaluation questionnaires administered upon entry into the study were subjected to a cross-sectional analysis. The measures included the severity of PTSD symptoms, clusters of PTSD symptoms, clinical measures, and several measures assessing PTSD-related constructs. Analyses included the Spearman rank correlation coefficient, X² tests for nominal data, Mann-Whitney U-tests for non-parametric data, and a mediation analysis.

RESULTS

The results of the mediation analysis revealed that difficulties in emotion regulation were significantly associated with the severity of PTSD symptoms, which was mediated by social acknowledgment and experimental avoidance but not by moral injury. The analyses showed that the severity of PTSD symptoms and all clusters of PTSD symptoms were significantly associated with most of the measured constructs in expectable directions. Participants in the PTSD group showed significantly higher mean scores on questionnaires measuring constructs that have been associated with PTSD, like emotion regulation and moral injury. They also showed lower mean scores in questionnaires for social support and social acknowledgment as a victim or survivor than participants in the non-PTSD group.

CONCLUSION

The present results show that difficulties in emotion regulation are directly associated with the severity of PTSD symptoms in service members of the German Armed Forces. This association is mediated by social acknowledgment and experimental avoidance, but not by moral injury. Thus, future studies should investigate these potentially crucial factors for better understanding of the development and maintenance of PTSD in service members of the German Armed Forces after deployment to create possible treatment adaptions.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

Australian Clinical Trials Registry, identifier ACTRN 12616000956404 http://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=370924.