Journal of psychiatric research
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Although women in the military are exposed to combat and its aftermath, little is known about whether combat as well as pre-deployment risk/protective factors differentially predict post-deployment PTSD symptoms among women compared to men. The current study assesses the influence of combat-related stressors and pre-deployment risk/protective factors on women's risk of developing PTSD symptoms following deployment relative to men's risk. ⋯ Elevated PTSD symptoms among female service members were not explained simply by gender differences in pre-deployment or deployment-related risk factors. Combat related stressors, prior interpersonal victimization, and pre-deployment concerns about life and family disruptions during deployment were differentially associated with greater post-deployment PTSD symptoms for women than men.
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The interaction of genetic and environmental factors may affect the course and development of psychotic disorders. We examined whether the effects of childhood trauma on cognition and symptoms in schizophrenia were moderated by the Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val(158)Met polymorphism, a common genetic variant known to affect cognition and prefrontal dopamine levels. Participants were 429 schizophrenia/schizoaffective cases from the Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB). ⋯ In addition, a significant interaction between COMT genotype and physical abuse was associated with better executive function in Val homozygotes, relative to those of the same genotype with no history of abuse. Finally, the severity of positive symptoms was greater in Met carriers who had experienced physical abuse, and the severity of negative symptoms in Met carriers was greater in the presence of emotional neglect. These results suggest that the possible epigenetic modulation of the expression of the COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism and consequent effects on cognition and symptoms in schizophrenia, with worse outcomes associated with adverse childhood experiences in Met carriers.
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War captivity is one of the most severe human-inflicted traumatic experiences with wide and substantial long-term negative effects. However, only one retrospective study examined suicidal ideation (SI) among ex-prisoners of war (ex-POWs). This study aimed to prospectively assess SI among ex-POWs and its associations with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms over a 17-year period. ⋯ Furthermore, among ex-POWs, PTSD symptoms at T1 contributed to the increase in rate of change in SI overtime. In addition, PTSD symptoms affected SI at the same measurement, above and beyond above the trajectories of SI. Clinical implications of these findings for the relations between captivity trauma and suicidality are discussed.
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Emerging research suggests that antisocial behavior in youth is linked to abnormal brain white matter microstructure, but the extent of such anatomical connectivity abnormalities remain largely untested because previous Conduct Disorder (CD) studies typically have selectively focused on specific frontotemporal tracts. This study aimed to replicate and extend previous frontotemporal diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) findings to determine whether noncomorbid CD adolescents have white matter microstructural abnormalities in major white matter tracts across the whole brain. Seventeen CD-diagnosed adolescents recruited from the community were compared to a group of 24 non-CD youth which did not differ in average age (12-18) or gender proportion. ⋯ Because AD, but not RD, differed between study groups, abnormalities of axonal microstructure in CD rather than myelination are suggested. This study provides evidence that adolescent antisocial disorder is linked to abnormal white matter microstructure in more than just the uncinate fasciculus as identified in previous DTI studies, or frontotemporal brain structures as suggested by functional neuroimaging studies. Instead, neurobiological risk specific to antisociality in adolescence is linked to microstructural abnormality in numerous long-range white matter connections among many diverse different brain regions.
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Sleep helps emotional memories consolidate and may promote generalization of fear extinction memory. We examined whether extinction learning and memory might differ in the morning and evening due, potentially, to circadian and/or sleep-homeostatic factors. Healthy men (N = 109) in 6 groups completed a 2-session protocol. ⋯ Cortisol and testosterone showed the expected greater salivary levels in the morning when higher testosterone/cortisol ratio also predicted better extinction learning. Circadian factors may promote morning extinction. Alternatively, evening homeostatic sleep pressure may impede extinction and favor recall of conditioned fear.