Exposure to Violence During Ferguson Protests: Mental Health Effects for Law Enforcement and Community Members.

There is little information available on the mental health effects of exposure to shared community violence such as the August 2014 violence that occurred in Ferguson, Missouri. This study sought to examine the relationship between proximity to community violence and mental health in both community members and police officers. We recruited 565 adults (community, n = 304, and police, n = 261) exposed to the violence in Ferguson to complete measures of proximity to violence, posttraumatic stress, depression, and anger. Using structural equation modeling, we assessed aspects of proximity to violence-connectedness, direct exposure, fear from exposure, media exposure, reactions to media, and life interruption-as correlates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depression, and anger. The final model yielded (n = 432), χ(2) (d = 12) = 7.4, p = .830; comparative fit index = 1.0, root mean square error of approximation = 0 [0, .04]. All aspects of proximity except direct exposure were associated with mental health outcomes. There was no moderation as a function of community versus police. Race moderated the relationship between life interruptions and negative outcomes; interruption was related to distress for White, but not Black community members. Based on group comparisons, community members reported more symptoms of PTSD and depression than law enforcement (ηp (2) = .06 and .02, respectively). Black community members reported more PTSD and depression than White community members (ηp (2) = .05 and .02, respectively). Overall, distress was high, and mental health interventions are likely indicated for some individuals exposed to the Ferguson events.

Augmenting cognitive processing therapy to improve sleep impairment in PTSD: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the success of empirically supported treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep impairment frequently remains refractory after treatment. This single-site, randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of sleep-directed hypnosis as a complement to an empirically supported psychotherapy for PTSD (cognitive processing therapy [CPT]). METHOD: Participants completed either 3 weeks of hypnosis (n = 52) or a symptom monitoring control condition (n = 56) before beginning standard CPT. Multilevel modeling was used to investigate differential patterns of change to determine whether hypnosis resulted in improvements in sleep, PTSD, and depression. An intervening variable approach was then used to determine whether improvements in sleep achieved during hypnosis augmented change in PTSD and depression during CPT. RESULTS: After the initial phase of treatment (hypnosis or symptom monitoring), the hypnosis condition showed significantly greater improvement than the control condition in sleep and depression, but not PTSD. After CPT, both conditions demonstrated significant improvement in sleep and PTSD; however, the hypnosis condition demonstrated greater improvement in depressive symptoms. As sleep improved, there were corresponding improvements in PTSD and depression, with a stronger relationship between sleep and PTSD. CONCLUSION: Hypnosis was effective in improving sleep impairment, but those improvements did not augment gains in PTSD recovery during the trauma-focused intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record

Influence of education on subcortical hyperintensities and global cognitive status in vascular dementia.

Subcortical hyperintensities (SH) on neuroimaging are a prominent feature of vascular dementia (VaD) and SH severity correlates with cognitive impairment in this population. Previous studies demonstrated that SH burden accounts for a degree of the cognitive burden among VaD patients, although it remains unclear if individual factors such as cognitive reserve influence cognitive status in VaD. To address this issue, we examined 36 individuals diagnosed with probable VaD (age = 77.56; education = 12). All individuals underwent MMSE evaluations and MRI brain scans. We predicted that individuals with higher educational attainment would exhibit less cognitive difficulty despite similar levels of SH volume, compared to individuals with less educational attainment. A regression analysis revealed that greater SH volume was associated with lower scores on the MMSE. Additionally, education moderated the relationship between SH volume and MMSE score, demonstrating that individuals with higher education had higher scores on the MMSE despite similar degrees of SH burden. These results suggest that educational attainment buffers the deleterious effects of SH burden on cognitive status among VaD patients.

Evaluation of treatment programs for dual disorder individuals: modeling longitudinal and mediation effects.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the three approaches for treating dual disorder clients who were homeless at intake: integrated assertive community treatment (IACT), assertive community treatment only (ACTO), and standard care (SC). Multilevel Random Coefficient Modeling (MRCM) was used to analyze longitudinal effects and to identify mediators of significant treatment effects. The outcome variables were consumer satisfaction, stable housing, psychiatric symptoms, and substance abuse. The eight mediators were service utilization variables: program contacts, phone contacts, substance abuse contacts, assistance with activities of daily living, transportation assistance, help finding permanent housing, help with emotional problems, and medication assistance. The 191 eligible participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions and followed for a period of 30 months. Both ACTO and IACT produced better outcomes than SC on consumer satisfaction and stable housing. There were no differences on any of the outcome variables between ACTO versus IACT when comparing main effects. However, there were several treatment by time interactions. In addition, there were many mediation effects.

Linking proactive personality and the Big Five to motivation to learn and development activity.

The authors investigated links between the Big Five, proactive personality, and motivation to learn. Web-based survey data were collected at 2 points in time from 183 employees of a financial services firm. Results showed that proactive personality was, only in part, a composite of Big Five facets, which accounted for 26% of its variance. Structural equation modeling results demonstrated that proactive personality, openness, extraversion, and conscientiousness predicted motivation to learn. In addition, motivation to learn was positively related to objectively assessed development activity. Proactive personality, extraversion, and openness had significant indirect links to development activity. Hierarchical regression results suggested that proactive personality had significant incremental validity in the prediction of motivation to learn over all relevant Big Five facets.