263 research outputs found
Coping strategies in daily life as protective and risk factors for post traumatic stress in motor vehicle accident survivors
No full textTo investigate the role of a general coping style in the development and maintenance of PTSD-like symptoms, we investigated 44 survivors of severe motor vehicle accidents. Coping was assessed using a German instrument. We also included personality traits such as neuroticism and extraversion, peritraumatic and cognitive factors that are linked to both PTSD and coping in daily life. Stepwise regressions were computed to explain overall PTSD symptoms and symptom clusters (intrusion, avoidance, hyperarousal). Extraversion and neuroticism, cognitive factors, and subjective trauma characteristics predicted total PTSD severity and the symptom clusters, respectively. Additionally, the results indicate that the coping of a person in daily life plays a role in the development and maintenance of PTSD symptoms. We identified both protective factors such as situation control and self-aggrandizement and risk factors such as avoidance and self-blame
Depression and its relation to posterior cortical activity during performance of neuropsychological verbal and spatial tasks
No full textThis study examined the relationship between individual differences in depression and brain asymmetry during task performance in a subclinical sample. It was investigated whether depression is associated with lower right posterior activation during performance of spatial tasks. We recorded electroencephalographic (EEG) activity from 31 university students during the performance of two verbal and two spatial tasks. As expected, individual differences in depression were associated with a relative right hypoactivation during spatial task performance. The findings imply that individual differences in right posterior activation are not specific to clinical states of depression but are also evident in healthy subjects with depressive symptoms
Neural correlates of posttraumatic growth
No full textFrontal brain asymmetry has been associated with emotion- and motivation-related constructs. The authors examined the relationship between frontal brain asymmetry and subjective perception of posttraumatic growth (PTG) after severe motor vehicle accidents (MVAs). Eighty-two survivors of MVAs completed self-report measures of PTG, trait and state affect, and diagnostic interviews assessing clinical status, and underwent measurement of resting electroencephalographic activity. As predicted, increased relative left frontal activation was significantly related to PTG, even when statistically controlling for dispositional positive affect. The authors assume that approach-related motivational tendencies associated with higher relative left frontal brain activity may be involved in the process and outcome of PTG
Cardiovascular correlates of motor vehicle accident related posttraumatic stress disorder and its successful treatment
No full textPersons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been shown to display elevated baseline cardiovascular activity and a heightened physiological reactivity to trauma-related stimuli. Study 1 examined differences in baseline heart rate (HR) and HR reactivity in 68 survivors of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and healthy controls without MVA. MVA survivors with PTSD (n=26), subsyndromal PTSD (n=22), traumatized controls without PTSD (non-PTSD with MVA, n=20) and healthy controls without MVA (HC, n=27) underwent measurement of HR during baseline and exposure to a neutral, positive, negative, and trauma-related picture. PTSD patients showed elevated baseline HR and increased HR reactivity only during exposure to the trauma-related picture. Study 2 investigated whether the elevated physiological responses observed in Study 1 normalized after cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). We conducted a randomized, controlled treatment trial comparing CBT (n=17) to a Wait-list condition (WLC, n=18). Results showed a greater decrease in HR reactivity for CBT than for WLC. The change in HR reactivity was associated with clinical improvement
Dresden PTSD treatment study: randomized controlled trial of motor vehicle accident survivors
No full textBackground: we translated, modified, and extended a cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) protocol by Blanchard and Hickling (2003) for the purpose of treating survivors of MVA with full or subsyndromal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) whose native language is German. The treatment manual included some additional elements, e. g. cognitive procedures, imaginal reliving, and facilitating of posttraumatic growth. The current study was conducted in order to test the efficacy of the modified manual by administering randomized controlled trial in which a CBT was compared to a wait-list control condition. Methods: forty-two motor vehicle accident survivors with chronic or severe subsyndromal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) completed the treatment trial with two or three detailed assessments (pre, post, and 3-month follow-up). Results: CAPS-scores showed significantly greater improvement in the CBT condition as compared to the wait list condition (group x time interaction effect size d = 1.61). Intent-to-treat analysis supported the outcome (d = 1.34). Categorical diagnostic data indicated clinical recovery of 67% (post-treatment) and 76% (3 months FU) in the treatment group. Additionally, patients of the CBT condition showed significantly greater reductions in co-morbid major depression than the control condition. At follow-up the improvements were stable in the active treatment condition. Conclusion: the degree of improvement in our treatment group was comparable to that in previously reported treatment trials of PTSD with cognitive behavioral therap
Regional brain electrical activity in posttraumatic stress disorder after motor vehicle accident
No full textThis study examined whether patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) would show an abnormal pattern of electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha asymmetries, which has been proposed for particular types of anxiety. Patients with PTSD (n = 22) or subsyndromal PTSD (n = 21), traumatized controls without PTSD (non-PTSD with MVA; n = 21), and healthy controls without MVA (n = 23) underwent measurement of EEG activity during baseline and exposure to a neutral, a positive, a negative, and an accident-related picture. Differences in brain asymmetry between groups were observed only during exposure to trauma-related material. PTSD and subsyndromal PTSD patients showed a pattern of enhanced right anterior and posterior activation, whereas non-PTSD with MVA participants showed the opposite pattern. Furthermore, posterior asymmetry in nontraumatized healthy controls varied with gender, with female participants showing a pattern of higher right posterior activation. The results support the hypothesis that symptomatic MVA survivors are characterized by a pattern of right hemisphere activation that is associated with anxious arousal and symptoms of PTSD during processing of trauma-specific information
Posttraumatic growth in accident survivors: openness and optimism as predictors of its constructive or illusory sides.
No full textPosttraumatic growth (PTG), the phenomenon of self-reported positive outcomes of trauma, is assumed to consist of two sides: a constructive and an illusory side. This study investigates the relationship between PTG and its possible illusory and constructive predictors, as well as the moderating role of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity. One-hundred two motor vehicle accident (MVA) survivors with full, subsyndromal, and without PTSD were assessed by multiple psychometric measures targeting PTSD severity, posttraumatic growth, optimism, and openness to experience. Hierarchical regression analysis yielded differential interaction effects between PTSD severity and optimism, as well as openness facets pointing to the moderating role of PTSD severity in the prediction of an illusory and a constructive factor in PTG
Negative self appraisals in treatment-seeking survivors of motor vehicle accidents
No full textRecent cognitive models stress the impact that negative appraisals have on the maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The aim of this study was to investigate the role of posttraumatic negative cognitions in 110 survivors of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and to examine the effect of cognitive-behavioral treatment on negative appraisals in a sample of 42 patients with full or sub-syndromal PTSD. We investigated whether posttraumatic negative cognitions predicted PTSD diagnosis and symptom severity, and whether treatment-related changes in negative appraisals were associated with PTSD symptom reduction. Negative posttraumatic cognitions were significantly associated with PTSD diagnosis and severity, and explained 54% of the variance of the PTSD severity. Furthermore, treatment-related reductions in negative appraisals about the self were highly associated with PTSD-symptom-reduction. Our results raise question about whether there are factors that make the self more vulnerable in some people but not in others
Changes in brain electrical activity after cognitive behavioral therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in patients injured in motor vehicle accidents
No full textObjective: To explore changes for the first time in neural processing due to effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after severe motor vehicle accidents. Recent studies have highlighted the role of right hemisphere activation during withdrawal-related emotions (e.g., anxiety). There has been little research on changes in brain function due to cognitive-behavioral interventions in anxiety disorders. Methods: We conducted a randomized, controlled trial comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy with an assessment-only Wait-list condition. Spontaneous electroencephalographic activity was recorded from left and right anterior and posterior regions in participants with PTSD/subsyndromal PTSD receiving CBT (n = 17) before and after a CBT program. Wait-list controls (n = 18) were investigated before and after 3 months. Results: At the pretreatment assessment, a pattern of increased right-sided activation during exposure to a trauma-related picture (relative to a neutral picture) was observed in both CBT and Wait-list participants. At posttreatment, there was a greater reduction of right anterior activation in the CBT group as compared with Wait-list controls. Across both groups, PTSD symptom reduction was significantly positively correlated with a decrease in right anterior activation to the trauma stimulus. Conclusions: These findings suggest that effective CBT treatment of PTSD may be accompanied by adaptive changes in asymmetrical brain function. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings
EEG Asymmetries in Survivors of Severe Motor Accidents: Association with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and its Treatment as well as Posttraumatic Growth: EEG Asymmetries in Survivors of Severe Motor Accidents: Association with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and its Treatment as well as Posttraumatic Growth
No full textSevere motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) represent one of the most often occurring psychological traumas, and are a leading cause of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, not all persons develop PTSD after traumatic events and a great proportion of patients who show symptoms initially recover over time. This has stimulated research of psychological and biological factors that explain development and maintenance of the disorder. Fortunately, this highly distressing condition can be effectively treated, e.g. via cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, brain mechanisms underlying changes due to psychological therapy in PTSD are almost unknown (Roffman, Marci, Glick, Dougherty, & Rauch, 2005). On the other hand there are observations of positive changes following trauma called Posttraumatic Growth (PTG), which have stimulated research of associated psychological processes and factors. However, there is a lack of research about the relation of biological variables (e.g. measures of brain function) and PTG.
Theories of brain asymmetry and emotion (Davidson, 1998b, 2004b; Heller, Koven, & Miller, 2003) propose that asymmetries of brain activation are related to certain features of human emotion (e.g. valence, approach or withdrawal tendencies, arousal). Whereas an enormous increase in the understanding of structural and functional abnormalities in PTSD could be achieved in the last decades due to neuroimaging research, there are still numerous unanswered questions. Especially, there is only little research explicitly examining activation asymmetries in PTSD. Furthermore, as mentioned, research is sparse investigating alterations of brain function that are associated with successful psychological treatment of PTSD. Finally, there is no published study examining how measures of brain function are related to PTG.
This thesis presents 3 studies investigating electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetries in survivors of severe motor vehicle accidents. The first part of the thesis (chapter 2) is devoted to a literature review about description (chapter 2.1), epidemiology (chapter 2.2 and 2.3), risk factors (chapter 2.4), psychological theories (chapter 2.5), biological mechanisms particularly neuroimaging findings (chapter 2.6), and treatment of PTSD (chapter 2.7.). Chapter 2.8 gives a short review on definition and research of Posttraumatic Growth. Chapter 2.9 provides an overview of models and research regarding brain asymmetry and emotion.
In chapter 3.1, a study is presented that investigated hemispheric asymmetries (EEG alpha) among MVA survivors with PTSD, with subsyndromal PTSD, and without PTSD as well as non-exposed healthy controls during a baseline condition and in response to neutral, positive, negative, and trauma-related pictures (study I). Next, the findings of study II are presented (chapter 3.2). This study examined the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on measures of EEG activity. Therefore, EEG activity before and after CBT in comparison to an assessment only Wait-list condition was measured. In chapter 3.3 a correlational study (study III) is presented that examined the relationship between frontal brain asymmetry and selfreported posttraumatic growth after severe MVAs.
Finally, in chapter 4 the findings are summarized and discussed with respect to (1) the state/trait debate in frontal asymmetry research and (2) current psychological theories of PTSD and PTG. In addition, the use of neuroscientific research for psychotherapy is discussed. Suggestions are presented for future goals for “brain” research of PTSD and treatment of PTSD.Schwere Verkehrsunfälle stellen eines der am häufigsten vorkommenden psychologischen Traumata dar, und sind eine Hauptursache der Posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung (PTBS). Jedoch entwickeln nicht alle Personen nach traumatischen Ereignissen eine PTBS und bei einem Großteil remittieren anfängliche PTBS-Symptome. Dies stimulierte die Erforschung von psychologischen und biologischen Faktoren, die die Entstehung und Aufrechterhaltung der PTBS erklären. Glücklicherweise kann die PTBS effektiv, z.B über die kognitive Verhaltenstherapie (KVT), behandelt werden. Jedoch sind Gehirnmechanismen, die mit klinischen Änderungen aufgrund der psychologischen Therapie in PTSD einhergehen, nahezu unbekannt (Roffman, Marci, Glick, Dougherty, Rauch, 2005). Auf der anderen Seite gibt es Berichte von positiven Änderungen nach traumatischen Ereignissen, die als Posttraumatische Reifung (PTR) bezeichent werden. Dies hat in kürzerer Vergangenheit die Forschung von verbundenen psychologischen Prozessen und Faktoren stimuliert. Jedoch gibt es kaum Untersuchungen über die Beziehung von biologischen Variablen (z.B Messungen der Gehirnfunktion) und PTR.
Diese Arbeit präsentiert 3 Studien, die electroenzephalographische (EEG) Asymmetrien bei Opfern schwerer Verkehrsunfälle untersuchten. Der erste Teil der Arbeit (Kapitel 2) widmet sich einer Literaturrezension über: die Beschreibung (Kapitel 2.1), Epidemiologie (Kapitel 2.2 und 2.3), Risikofaktoren (Kapitel 2.4), psychologische Theorien (Kapitel 2.5), biologische Mechanismen besonders Neuroimaging Ergebnisse (Kapitel 2.6), und Behandlung der PTBS (Kapitel 2.7.). Kapitel 2.8 gibt einen kurzen Überblick über die Definition und Forschung zur Posttraumatischen Reifung. Kapitel 2.9 gibt eine Übersicht zu aktuellen Modellen und empirischen Befunden bezüglich Gehirnasymmetrien und Emotionen.
Kapitel 3.1 präsentiert eine Studie, in der hemisphärische Asymmetrien (im EEG-Alpha Band) bei Unfallopfern mit PTBS, subsyndromaler PTBS, und ohne PTBS sowie gesunden Kontrollpersonen ohne Unfall untersucht wurden: während einer Ruhemessung und einer Emotionsinduktions-bedingung (neutrale, positive, negative und trauma-spezifische Bilder) (Studie I). Danach werden die Ergebnisse der Studie II (Kapitel 3.2) präsentiert. Hier wurde die Wirkung der kognitiven Verhaltenstherapie auf Messungen der EEG-Aktivität untersucht. Deshalb wurde EEG-Aktivität vor und nach einer KVT im Vergleich mit einer Warten-Gruppe gemessen. Kapitel 3.3 präsentiert eine Korellationsanalyse (Studie III), bei der die Beziehung zwischen der frontalen Gehirnasymmetrie und posttraumatischer Reifung untersucht wurde.
Am Ende der Arbeit (Kapitel 4) werden die Ergebnisse zusammengefasst und in Bezug auf (1) die state/trait-Debatte im Rahmen der Asymmetrie-Forschung diskutiert sowie (2) ein Bezug zu aktuellen psychologische Theorien von PTSD und PTG hergestellt. Außerdem wird der Nutzen von neurobiologischer Forschung für die Psychotherapie besprochen. Dabei werden Vorschläge für zukünftige Projekte für die "Gehirn"-Forschung im Zusammenhang mit der PTBS, deren Behandlung und PTG gemacht
- …
