Nightmare Disorder.

This article presents a comprehensive review of nightmare disorder, covering diagnosis, treatment approaches, guidelines, and considerations. It begins with an introduction, defining the disorder and addressing its prevalence and psychosocial implications. The article explores assessment tools for diagnosis and then delves into psychological and pharmacologic treatment modalities, examining their efficacy and side effects. Considerations for optimizing therapeutic outcomes are highlighted, including medication versus psychotherapy, co-morbidities, cultural implications, and the use of technology and service animals. The review concludes by offering key recommendations for effective treatment and clinical care for individuals with nightmare disorder.

The impact of social support and emotion dysregulation on COVID-19 depressive symptoms.

Introduction: Stress resulting from the global COVID-19 pandemic has been linked to psychological consequences, such as depressive symptoms, for individuals worldwide. Outbreaks and pandemics are known to accentuate stressors or generate new ones owing to health-related worries, reduced mobility, and social activity due to quarantine, and sudden life changes. Although post-lockdown U.S. research findings suggest a greater risk of depression among 18- to 25-year-olds, familiarity with technology and virtual socializing may offer college students some protective effect, warranting research with such groups. Methods: The current study thus explored emotion dysregulation (ED) and perceived social support (PSS) as potential mechanisms for the relationship between COVID-19 stress and depressive symptoms among students at a southern university in the United States. Participants (N = 489) completed a cross-sectional survey assessing their current levels of COVID-19 stress, ED, PSS, and depressive symptoms. Results: Path analysis showed that PSS buffered the effect of ED on depressive symptoms. The results support the explanatory role of ED in the relationship between COVID-19 stress and depressive symptoms. Discussion: The perceived social connection may be an essential factor for psychological outcomes during periods of stress and isolation, particularly for those reporting high ED.

Childhood Trauma and PTSD Symptoms: Disentangling the Roles of Emotion Regulation and Distress Tolerance.

Research documents that a history of childhood trauma increases risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), greater emotion regulation difficulties (ERD), and reduced distress tolerance (DT). Independent lines of research implicate ERD and DT as transdiagnostic risk factors and link them to PTSD. To elucidate how such mechanisms may influence the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of PTSD, the current study investigates the distinct mediating roles of emotion regulation and DT, exploring which explains a larger indirect effect from childhood trauma to PTSD symptom severity. Participants (N = 385, aged 18-48) who endorsed a history of childhood trauma provided retrospective report of cumulative childhood trauma exposure, and of current ERD, DT, and PTSD symptom severity. Single and dual mediation analyses were used to assess indirect effects through ERD and DT in the relation between cumulative childhood trauma exposure and current PTSD symptom severity. ERD and DT were significantly and inversely related. Higher current self-ratings of PTSD symptom severity were explained by cumulative childhood trauma through ERD (B = 0.93, p < 0.001) and DT (B = 0.50, p < 0.05). The full model explained 36% of the variance in PTSD symptom severity. Current findings provide preliminary evidence of DT and emotion regulation (with specific facets identified) as distinct mechanisms in the development of PTSD. Of clinical relevance, current findings support post-trauma processing theories that contend individuals' recovery requires accepting and learning to modulate trauma-related emotional states. Implications for methods of treatment and prevention are discussed.

Role of Developmental Timing of Childhood Adversity in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Persistence or Desistance.

Given the high prevalence of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), scientific interest is on the rise, yet its developmental course remains understudied. Factors that may influence NSSI behavior are also unclear, although early research describes it as a maladaptive form of emotion regulation. In a college student sample (N = 507), the current study examines the extent that developmental timing of, and cumulative exposure to, potentially traumatic events (PTEs) accounts for variance in NSSI frequency, duration, and desistance, as well as the role that emotion regulation difficulties (ERD) play. Of 507 participants, 411 endorsed PTE exposure and were categorized into developmental groups based on age of initial PTE exposure, with the hypothesis that initial exposure during early childhood and adolescence may represent particularly sensitive risk periods. Results revealed that cumulative PTE exposure was significantly positively associated with shorter NSSI desistance, whereas ERD were significantly negatively associated with shorter NSSI desistance. However, the interaction between cumulative PTE exposure, when coupled with current ERD significantly moderated (i.e., strengthened) the path between cumulative PTE exposure and NSSI desistance. When examined individually, this interaction was only significant for the early childhood group, suggesting that the effects of PTE exposure on NSSI persistence may vary not only as a function of emotion regulation capacities but also when in the developmental course initial PTE exposure occurs. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of PTE and timing, as well as ERD, in predicting NSSI behavior, and can inform programs and policies to prevent and curtail self-harm.

Coping with COVID-19: Testing the stress sensitization hypothesis among adults with and without a history of adverse childhood experiences.

Background: Substantial research suggests that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) disrupt neurobiology, impacting regulatory processes (i.e., emotion regulation) that may sensitize individuals to psychopathology in response to later life stressors. Given the known increase in mental health distress related to the current ongoing global pandemic, this study investigated the extent to which COVID-related stress moderates the association between emotion regulation difficulties and psychological symptom ratings among individuals with and without exposure to ACEs. Methods: Participants (N = 315, aged 18-48) provided self-ratings of ACEs, emotion regulation difficulties, COVID-related stress, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. The interaction between emotion regulation difficulties and COVID-related stress on psychological symptoms was examined using path analysis. Multigroup analysis was used to examine the moderating effects of ACEs. Results: For individuals with ACEs, COVID-stress was associated positively with depression and anxiety symptoms when emotion regulation difficulties were low. Higher emotion regulation difficulties were associated with higher symptom ratings and COVID-related stress did not add a significant effect. Goal-setting difficulties, a subscale of emotion regulation difficulties, accounted for the most variance in these associations. Limitations: Cross-sectional design precludes determining causality, retrospective reports may be subject to recall bias, and participant demographics may limit generalizability. Conclusions: The current study provides support for stress sensitization theory and highlights the protective role of emotion regulation in enduring moderate stressors. Significant stressors (e.g., COVID-19), however, may warrant additional skills and supports to mitigate internalizing symptoms, particularly for individuals with a history of ACEs.

Can Emerging Adults' Dating Psychological Aggression be Explained by Family-of-Origin Psychological Aggression, Emotion Dysregulation, and Drinking?

Intimate partner violence (IPV) impacts the lives of millions of individuals; nearly 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men report experiencing IPV during their lifetime. Previous studies frequently cite family-of-origin aggression as a risk factor for later experiences with IPV. Research with adults who engage in IPV finds an association with childhood exposure to family violence, but the strength of that association may vary. Psychological aggression often pre-dates more severe IPV and college students are a particular risk group for IPV. Additionally, previous literature has revealed gender differences in response to childhood experiences of family violence. As such, the current study sought to identify factors that explain and moderate risk for dating psychological aggression (DPA) in college adults, and sex differences in those associations. Participants (464 women, 142 men), who were in a current romantic relationship lasting at least 3 months, completed measures of past psychological aggression in the family-of-origin (PAF), current emotion dysregulation, risky drinking, and DPA perpetrated in current dating relationships. Emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between PAF and current DPA; however, differences among specific types of PAF and sex were noted. Results support an intergenerational transmission of PAF and suggest that parent-child sex dyads influence this process. The findings also provide evidence that higher levels of drinking are associated with increased emotion dysregulation. These results contrast with the alcohol expectancy for stress relief and support public messaging that alcohol use does not relieve stress. Clinical and research implications for prevention of the intergenerational transmission of aggression are discussed.

Subcultural, ideological, and valence-based differences in caregiver reminiscing functions.

Researchers have identified cultural differences in caregiver beliefs about the functions of parent-child reminiscing. However, this work has largely been limited to comparisons between Asian or Asian American and European American caregivers discussing autobiographical events, broadly. In the present study, 365 caregivers of 3- to 12-year-old children from four U.S. subcultures (African, Asian, European, and Hispanic/LatinX) reported about the functions of discussing positive and negative past events with their child, and about their collectivist values. Overall, positive events were discussed more often than negative events and all reminiscing functions were endorsed more strongly for positive events. European Americans endorsed directive functions for positive events least of the three primary functions, and endorsed them less than the other three subcultural groups. All four subculture groups endorsed directive functions equally and more strongly than other functions when discussing negative events. More collectivist attitudes predicted stronger endorsement of all conversation functions except directive functions for negative events. This research is poised to expand our understanding of how caregivers from different subcultural groups, and with different culture-based values, may attempt to shape their children's worldview through reminiscing and how the functions caregivers emphasise shift depending on the valence of the event under discussion.