An integrated approach to delivering exposure-based treatment for symptoms of PTSD and depression in OIF/OEF veterans: preliminary findings

Combat-exposed military personnel from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan report high rates of PTSD and associated psychiatric problems. A formidable body of research supports exposure therapy as a front-line intervention for PTSD; however, relative to studies of civilians, fewer investigations have evaluated the effectiveness of exposure therapy using military samples. Specifically, barriers to care (e.g., stigma associated with receiving mental health services ) may compromise utilization of evidence-based psychotherapy. As such, researchers have argued that veterans with PTSD may require an integrated and innovative approach to the delivery of exposure techniques. This paper presents the rationale for and preliminary data from an ongoing clinical trial that compares the home-based telehealth (HBT) application of a brief, behavioral treatment (Behavioral Activation and Therapeutic Exposure; BA-TE) for veterans with PTSD to the standard, in-person application of the same treatment. Forty OIF/OEF veterans with PTSD and MDD were consented, enrolled, and randomized to condition (BA-TE in-person, or BA-TE HBT) and symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed at pre- and posttreatment. Participants in both conditions experienced reductions in depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms between pre- and posttreatment, suggesting that HBT application of an integrated PTSD treatment may be feasible and effective.     

Grandiose Fantasies and Low Self-Esteem: An Experimental Study

Grandiose states of mind could be an ineffective way to cope with low self-esteem. In fact, it is possible that grandiose fantasies would tend to induce doubts about personal worth and decrease self-esteem. This study explored whether grandiose fantasies help to cope with low self-esteem. The self-reported occurrence and unpleasantness of intrusive thoughts regarding the sense of exclusion, humiliation, and low self-esteem in non-clinical individuals were assessed during self-induced grandiose fantasies and self-induced relaxation. The occurrence and unpleasantness of low self-esteem intrusions were significantly higher during grandiose fantasies, suggesting that grandiose fantasy is ineffective at combating low self-esteem.     

汉字刺激质量和频率在N400上的交互

采用事件相关电位,运用无启动的同一字判断（靶字延迟反应）范式,以大学生为被试探讨汉字刺激质量和频率是否具有交互作用。行为结果显示,刺激质量和频率在反应时上存在交互作用。脑电结果显示,重度模糊诱发了更大的N250和N400,且刺激质量和频率在N400上存在交互作用。结论是,汉字刺激质量和频率在反应时和N400上存在交互作用,表明在汉字识别中存在串级加工,支持IA模型。     

Adolescents’ Civic Commitments in Stable and Fledgling Democracies: The Role of Family,School, and Community

The authors examined the associations between adolescents’ perceptions of proximal processes in families, schools, and communities and their civic commitments (to the local community, nation, and conventional politics) in stable (Australia, United States) and fledgling (Bulgaria, Hungary) democracies in the mid-1990s. Results of multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) revealed that adolescents in the stable democracies reported higher levels of extracurricular participation, family emphasis on social responsibility, and community social capital compared to peers in the fledgling democracies. Using a multiple group regression approach, the authors found that in both types of polities, community social capital was positively associated with all three civic outcomes and a family ethic of social responsibility was positively associated with commitments to the local community and nation. However, whereas in the stable democracies, a democratic school climate was positively associated with commitments to the community and nation, in the fledgling democracies such school climates were positively associated with commitments to conventional politics.     

Taxometric Investigation of PTSD: data from two nationally representative samples

Current psychiatric nosology depicts posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a discrete diagnostic category. However, only one study has examined the latent structure of PTSD, and this study suggested that PTSD may be more accurately conceptualized as an extreme reaction to traumatic life events rather than a discrete clinical syndrome. To build on the existing literature base, the present research examined the latent structure of posttraumatic stress reactions by applying three taxometric procedures (MAXEIG, MAMBAC, and L-Mode) to data collected from large nationally representative samples of women (ns = 2684 and 3033) and adolescents (n = 3775). Results consistently provided evidence for a dimensional PTSD solution across samples and statistical procedures. These findings have important implications for the theory, assessment, and investigation of posttraumatic stress reactions.     

Changing food preference as a function of mood

The authors investigated the effect of mood on food selection. Participants (N = 98) indicated the likelihood of general eating and the likelihood of eating specific foods after reading and projecting themselves onto the events and emotions described in a sad and a happy vignette. Both men and women believed they were more likely to consume food following a happy versus a sad event, and men believed they were significantly more likely to eat than did women. However, the type of food men and women believed they would consume interacted with the type of event experienced. Vegetarian snack foods were more likely to be consumed following a happy versus a sad event, with men more likely to eat snack foods. Men did not significantly change in likelihood of consuming sweet foods as their mood changed. However, women believed they were more likely to consume sweet foods following a sad event. The authors discuss the results in terms of a self-medication hypothesis and the effect of carbohydrates on central serotonin and endogenous opioids. Overall, results demonstrated that mood influences belief in the likelihood of food selection.     

Center-Based Care for Young Children: Examining Predictors of Quality

The authors collected information from caregivers, trained observers, and parents to investigate quality elements in child-care programs designed for young children in center-based settings. Participants were 75 parents of children aged 15 to 36 months and their caregivers from 13 child-care centers in a southeastern state. Observers collected indicators of program quality and process and structural quality indicators, including adult-child ratio, group size, use of planned activities, use of child-designated space, housekeeping activities, and caregiver-child interactions. Participants responded to questions regarding their child-rearing beliefs, social support networks, perceived stress levels, and demographic characteristics. The best predictors of higher quality care and sensitive caregiver-child interaction in centers were specialized caregiver training, higher adult-child ratios, use of planned activities, and less perceived stress by caregivers. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Disaster Impact Across Cultural Groups: Comparison of Whites, African Americans, and Latinos

The current study extends knowledge regarding the differential impact of natural disasters among White, African American, and Latino survivors of Hurricane Ike through its use of a large, regional sample recruited via representative sampling procedures to examine the associations between cultural identification and disaster impact, including loss, damage, and negative mental health outcomes. Consistent with previous research, results indicated disparities between cultural groups with regard to disaster exposure. Additionally, type of disaster impact was differentially associated with PTSD and depression status dependent on cultural group. Specifically, the extent of personal disaster exposure, property damage, and loss of services made significant contributions to PTSD status among White survivors. African-Americans were more likely than White and Latino Ike survivors to endorse post-disaster PTSD and depression and endorsement of depression was predicted by severity of property damage. With respect to Latino respondents, only the extent of personal disaster exposure significantly contributed to both PTSD and depression status. Implications of the current findings are discussed with regard to future disaster preparedness and response efforts and the implementation and evaluation of community-based disaster resources.     

Age Differences in the Magnitude of the Attentional Blink

When people attend to a target in a rapid sequence of items, their perception of a subsequent target is impaired for about 500 ms. This is termed the attentional blink. In the present experiment, a dual task rapid serial presentation task (Raymond, Shapiro & Arnell, 1992) was used as a measure of inhibitory function of younger and older adults. We found that the attentional blink was larger among older adults as compared to younger adults, supporting Hasher and Zacks' (1988) inhibitory deficit hypothesis and current models of the attentional blink.