The current findings confirm the associations between parental posttraumatic responses and child PTSS and highlight important moderating factors to include in future studies of child PTSS.

Film clips are widely utilized to elicit emotion in a variety of research studies. Normative ratings for scenes selected for these purposes support that selected clips correspond to the intended target emotion, but studies reporting normative ratings are limited. Using an ethnically diverse sample of college undergraduates, selected clips were rated for intensity, discreteness, valence, and arousal. Variables hypothesized to affect the perception of stimuli (i.e., gender, race-ethnicity, and familiarity) were also examined. Analyses generally indicated that males reacted strongly to positively valenced film clips, while females reacted more strongly to negatively valenced film clips. Caucasian participants tended to react more strongly to film clips, and there was some variation by race-ethnicity across target emotions. Finally, familiarity with films tended to produce higher ratings for positively valenced film clips and lower ratings for negatively valenced film clips. Findings provide normative ratings for a useful set of film clips for the study of emotion, and underscore factors to be considered in research that utilizes scenes from film for emotion elicitation.

Objective/Introduction Secondary pharmacological interventions have shown promise at reducing the development of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSS) in preclinical studies. The present study examined the preliminary efficacy of a 10-day low-dose (20 mg bid) course of hydrocortisone at preventing PTSS in traumatic injury victims. Methods Sixty-four traumatic injury patients (34% female) were randomly assigned in a double-blind protocol to receive either a 10-day course of hydrocortisone or placebo initiated within 12 hours of the trauma. One-month and 3-months posttrauma participants completed an interview to assess PTSS and self-report measures of depression and health-related quality of life. Results Hydrocortisone recipients reported fewer PTSD and depression symptoms, and had greater improvements in health-related quality of life during the first 3 months posttrauma than did placebo recipients. Hydrocortisone recipients who had never received prior mental health treatment had the lowest PTSD scores. Conclusion Low-dose hydrocortisone may be a promising approach to the prevention of PTSD in acutely injured trauma patients, and may be particularly efficacious in acutely injured trauma victims without a history of significant psychopathology.

The present study examined how different types of social support differentially moderated the relationship between trauma history characteristics and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSS) following a motor vehicle accident (MVA). Two hundred thirty-five MVA victims self-reported levels of social support and trauma history, and were evaluated for PTSS 6- and 12-months post-MVA. Results indicated that after controlling for gender, injury severity and income, number of prior trauma types and subjective responses to prior traumatization predicted subsequent PTSS (ps < .05). Appraisal social support was a significant moderator of the total number of types of trauma (appraisal: 6-months β = −.16, p < .05; 12-months β = −.17, p < .05) and subjective physical injury during the prior trauma (appraisal: 6-months β = −.14, p < .05; 12-months β = −.19, p < .05) in predicting PTSS. Results underscore the importance of examining both trauma history and social support as multi-dimensional constructs and suggest merit to addressing social support in trauma victims with a prior trauma history.

Although the syllabus is one of the most widely used documents in higher education, research investigating the effectiveness of this tool is minimal. The current study investigates student perception of the course and professor based on the syllabus. A total of 149 students were randomly assigned to one of six syllabus conditions focusing on syllabus length (i.e., short, medium, and long) and the inclusion of images. Participants completed questionnaires and participated in a focus group regarding their perceptions of the course and the professor. Results revealed that students reviewing the medium or long syllabi, as compared to the short syllabus, had a more positive impression of the course and professor. No significant differences were found for images versus no images. The majority of students (i.e., 66.6%) indicated a preference for a long syllabus with all assignment details versus a shorter syllabus with assignment details being provided later in the semester. The implications of these findings are discussed.

These results underscore the importance of examining both maternal and paternal influences after the death of a child, demonstrate differential impact of maternal vs. paternal symptoms on siblings, and stress the importance of addressing postloss symptoms from a family systems perspective.

Presence of injury is often examined as a risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, results have been mixed regarding the relationship between injury severity and PTSD symptoms (PTSS). The present study examined subjective and objective injury severity ratings in traumatic injury victims to determine if they differentially predict PTSS. Results demonstrated that subjective, not objective, injury severity predicted PTSS at six weeks and three months post-trauma. The moderating impact of peritraumatic factors was also examined. Peritraumatic dissociation moderated the impact of subjective injury severity on PTSS. Findings indicate that subjective injury severity should be incorporated into early screeners for PTSD risk.

Background It has been suggested that a history of trauma exposure is associated with increased vulnerability to the physical health consequences of subsequent trauma exposure, and that posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) may serve as a key pathway in this vulnerability. However, few studies have modeled these relationships using mediation, and most have failed to consider whether specific characteristics of the prior trauma exposure have a differential impact on physical and mental health outcomes. Methods The present study examined 180 victims of a serious motor vehicle accident (MVA) who reported prior exposure to traumatic events. PTSS were assessed by clinical interview 6 weeks post-MVA, and physical health was assessed 6 months post-MVA. Using structural equation modeling, the present study examined the extent to which event (age at first trauma, number and types of trauma) and response (perceptions of life threat, physical injury and distress) characteristics of prior trauma were related to physical health outcomes following a serious MVA, and whether these relationships were mediated by PTSS. Results Results revealed that both event and response characteristics of prior trauma history were associated with poorer physical health, and that PTSS served as a mechanism through which response characteristics, but not event characteristics, led to poorer physical health. Conclusions These results highlight the enduring impact of trauma exposure on physical health outcomes, and underscore the importance of considering multiple mechanisms through which different aspects of prior trauma exposure may impact physical health.