Impact of hormonal contraceptives on sex differences in fear conditioning and fear extinction in PTSD.

Sex differences in the neurobiological mechanisms involved in fear conditioning and extinction have been suggested to contribute to differential vulnerability for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women compared with men. Reproductive hormones, such as estradiol, have been shown to facilitate fear conditioning and extinction learning and may explain some of these differences. However, the effect of commonly used hormonal contraceptives on the neurobiological mechanisms of fear conditioning and extinction is poorly understood. A laboratory study was conducted in trauma-exposed men and women with and without full or partial PTSD to examine effects of sex and use of hormonal birth control on fear conditioning, fear extinction learning, and extinction retention. Participants underwent fear conditioning with stimuli that were paired (CS+) or unpaired (CS-) with shock. Extinction learning occurred 72 h later, and extinction retention was tested 1 wk after extinction. Women on hormonal contraceptives (HCs) demonstrated enhanced acquisition of fear conditioning and enhanced extinction of fear as compared with women off hormonal birth control and men. While clinical implications have yet to be determined, these results suggest that hormonal contraceptives may facilitate learning during both fear acquisition and extinction. Understanding the impact of sex and hormones on fear conditioning and extinction processes may lead to new insights into the pathophysiology of PTSD and result in advancements in treatment that may vary by sex.

Insight and Symptom Severity in an Inpatient Psychiatric Sample.

Individuals with a severe mental illness, particularly a psychotic disorder, often lack insight into having a mental illness. This study sought to examine the differences in insight and symptom severity between individuals with psychotic, bipolar, and depressive disorders in an inpatient psychiatric sample. 199 participants were interviewed and medical records were consulted. Results show that participants with a psychotic disorder had significantly less insight into their illness, more debilitating symptoms, and reported less depression symptoms after controlling for education, race, marital status, homelessness, age, gender, and history of incarceration. Insight was shown to be a mediator between having a psychotic disorder and symptom severity. Subjective quality of life did not differ by diagnosis. Substance use was not associated with insight or overall symptom severity, while homelessness was associated with having a psychotic disorder and more severe symptoms. Fostering insight during an inpatient stay may be an important part of reducing symptom severity and preventing patient relapse. However, greater insight may increase depression and suicidality, indicating a need for mood management and safety planning along with psychoeducation of symptoms.

Divergences among Three Higher-Order Self-Report Psychopathology Factors in Normal-Range Personality and Emotional Late Positive Potential Reactivity.

Personality is related to psychopathology and its higher-order structures, but there is little research regarding neurobiological associations of higher-order psychopathology factors. This study examined the factor structure of a wide range of psychopathology and its associations with both personality and emotional reactivity revealed through the late positive potential (LPP) in a sample of 275 undergraduates. A three-factor structure of psychopathology emerged comprising Internalizing (INT), Externalizing (EXT), and Aberrant Experiences (ABX). EXT predicted aggressive disconstraint, whereas both INT and ABX predicted Alienation and Stress Reaction. INT uniquely predicted low Well-Being, and ABX predicted a rigid absorption combined with interpersonal detachment. ABX correlated with reduced parietal emotional LPP reactivity, whereas INT correlated with stronger frontal LPP reactivity to emotional versus neutral pictures.

Eating Disorder Quality of Life Scale (EDQLS) in ethnically diverse college women: an exploratory factor analysis.

BACKGROUND: Extant research suggests that disordered eating is common in college women and is associated with decreased quality of life. The Eating Disorder Quality of Life Scale (EDQLS) examines impairment to disordered eating-related quality of life, but has not been validated in college women. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to examine the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the EDQLS in a diverse sample of 971 college women. METHOD: Students from a large United States university completed questionnaires examining disordered eating and the EDQLS online. RESULTS: The EDQLS demonstrated excellent internal consistency and good convergent validity with the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDEQ). Contrary to the original 12-domain design of the EDQLS, principal component analyses suggested five factors that mapped onto the following constructs: (1) Positive Emotionality; (2) Body/Weight Dissatisfaction; (3) Disordered Eating Behaviors; (4) Negative Emotionality; and (5) Social Engagement. However, 15 of the 40 items loaded onto multiple factors. CONCLUSIONS: Total scores on the EDQLS are reliable and valid when used with diverse samples of college women, but some revisions are needed to create subscales than can justifiably be used in clinical practice.

Prolonged grief symptoms related to loss of physical functioning: examining unique associations with medical service utilization.

PURPOSE: Prolonged grief, a severe and chronic form of grieving most commonly studied in the context of bereavement, may have relevance to losses associated with chronic illness (e.g. grief related to loss of functioning or loss of a planned future). The purpose of the present study is to examine the unique associations between prolonged grief symptoms and service utilization patterns. METHODS: An online self-report assessment battery was administered among a sample of 275 older adults with at least one chronic illness that caused significant physical impairment. RESULTS: Even after statistically controlling for relevant physical health (e.g. severity of physical limitations, somatic symptoms, number of chronic illnesses) and psychosocial variables (e.g. social support, depression/anxiety), more severe prolonged grief symptoms were associated with a greater number of emergency room visits, overnight stays in the hospital and total nights in the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of screening for prolonged grief symptomatology with older individuals with a debilitating chronic illness. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION: Recent evidence suggests that prolonged grief may have relevance for losses associated with physical illness. The present study shows that prolonged grief reactions related to physical illness (e.g. grieving the loss of functioning) are uniquely associated with increased hospital-based service utilization. Given the relevance of prolonged grief reactions in this population, practitioners may wish to assess for these symptoms. Future clinical research should focus on developing interventions to target prolonged grief symptoms associated with these losses.

Trait absorption is related to enhanced emotional picture processing and reduced processing of secondary acoustic probes.

Trait absorption reflects a propensity to have one's attention drawn to engaging sensory or imaginal experiences. It is related to self-reported levels of positive and negative emotionality, but little work has examined whether absorption is related to greater levels of basic emotional processing. We used the late positive potential (LPP) to pictures and P3 response to subsequent startle probes during those pictures to examine how absorption was related to initial emotional processing and reactivity to a second stimulus. Across genders, absorption was positively related to LPP amplitude to emotional versus neutral pictures at PZ, and it was negatively related to overall P3 amplitude to startle probes at FZ. Thus, absorption appears to index greater processing of emotional material at the cost of reduced processing of subsequent incoming stimuli.

Bereavement-related regret trajectories among widowed older adults.

OBJECTIVES: Although regrets and unfinished business with a deceased spouse are frequently discussed as crucial determinants of one's postloss adjustment, there have been few empirical investigations of bereavement-related regrets. This present study aimed to investigate the longitudinal course of these regrets and their correlates among widowed older adults. METHODS: Drawing upon information from 201 widowed older adults in the Changing Lives of Older Couples study, this present study used latent class growth analysis to identify unique longitudinal trajectories of regret from 6 to 48 months postloss and examine differences between these trajectories with regard to grief and depressive symptomatology. RESULTS: Three distinct bereavement-related regret trajectories were identified, characterized by Stable Low Regret, Stable High Regret, and Worsening High Regret. Results revealed that those in the Worsening High Regret group, whose bereavement-related regrets were exacerbated during the study, had the poorest grief outcomes. No differences were observed between these groups with regard to depressive symptoms, indicating that regret may be a unique marker of difficulties in the grieving process. DISCUSSION: These findings highlight the importance of periodically reassessing bereavement-related regrets (and perhaps other aspects of the continued relationship with the deceased) over time and support the rationale behind interventions designed to facilitate resolution of these issues.

The unique impact of late-life bereavement and prolonged grief on diurnal cortisol.

OBJECTIVES: This study expands on previous research by examining the effects of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) symptoms and bereavement on diurnal cortisol patterns above and beyond depressive symptomatology. METHODS: Drawing on information from 56 depressed older adults, 3 groups were compared: (1) a depressed nonbereaved group, (2) a depressed bereaved without elevated PGD symptoms group, and (3) a depressed bereaved with elevated PGD symptoms group. Multilevel modeling was used to examine differences in diurnal cortisol profiles between these 3 groups, controlling for demographic factors and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Results revealed that those who were bereaved had more dysregulated cortisol patterns, but PGD symptomatology seemed to have little effect. Subsidiary analysis with just the bereaved participants suggests that those who were recently widowed may have had greater cortisol dysregulation compared with other bereaved individuals in the sample. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that the circumstance of being bereaved may be associated with more dysregulated cortisol, regardless of PGD symptomatology. This pattern of results might reflect greater disturbance in daily routines among bereaved individuals and acute stress in the case of those experiencing the recent loss of a spouse, which leads to disruption in circadian rhythms and the diurnal cycle of cortisol.