These data support the efficacy of prazosin for nightmares, sleep disturbance, and other PTSD symptoms.

Although criminal behavior in veterans has been cited as a growing problem, little is known about why some veterans are at increased risk for arrest. Theories of criminal behavior postulate that people who have been exposed to stressful environments or traumatic events and who report negative affect such as anger and irritability are at increased risk of antisocial conduct. We thus hypothesized that veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) who report anger/irritability would show higher rates of criminal arrests. To test this, we examined data in a national survey of N=1388 Iraq and Afghanistan War Era Veterans. We found that 9% of respondents reported arrests since returning home from military service. Most arrests were associated with nonviolent criminal behavior resulting in incarceration for less than two weeks. Unadjusted bivariate analyses revealed that veterans with probable PTSD or TBI who reported anger/irritability were most likely to be arrested. In multivariate analyses, arrests were found to be significantly related to younger age, male gender, having witnessed family violence, prior history of arrest, alcohol/drug misuse, and PTSD with high anger/irritability but were not significantly related to combat exposure or TBI. Findings show that a subset of veterans with PTSD and negative affect may be at increased risk of criminal arrest. Since arrests are more strongly linked to substance abuse and criminal history, clinicians should also consider non-PTSD factors when evaluating and treating veterans with criminal justice involvement.

Unilateral thalamic DBS for ET is cognitively safe and associated with improvements in anxiety and quality of life in the near term and in the absence of operative complications. Patients were better able to carry out activities of daily living after surgery, and they reported improvement in several psychosocial domains of quality of life.

No abstract

Smoking-cessation interventions can be safely incorporated into routine mental health care for PTSD and are more effective than treatment delivered separately by a specialized smoking-cessation clinic. Integrating cessation treatment into psychiatric care may have the potential for improving smoking quit rates in other populations of chronically mentally ill smokers.

Although considerable research has examined the impact of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on couples and partners, relatively little is known about how it can affect parenting, children, and the parent-child relationship. Although adverse effects of parental PTSD on child functioning have been documented, the processes by which these outcomes occur are unknown. Further, parents' perspectives of how their PTSD affects parenting and children have yet to be studied. This 3-site, mixed methods exploratory study included 19 veteran parents who had a diagnosis of PTSD. Participants were recruited from Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers. Veterans participated in focus groups or individual interviews and completed questionnaires, responding to questions about the impact of PTSD on their functioning as parents. Two sets of themes emerged from the qualitative inquiry. First, veterans reported parenting difficulties that were associated with three PTSD symptom clusters, including avoidance, alterations in arousal and reactivity, and negative alterations of cognitions and mood. Second, veterans described both emotional (e.g., hurt, confusion, frustration, fear) and behavioral (e.g., withdrawal, mimicking parents' behavior) reactions in their children. Veterans also shared numerous ways in which their children provided practical and emotional support. Implications of these findings for future research, program development, and clinical care are offered, including a free online parenting resource for veterans with PTSD based on this research. (PsycINFO Database Record

No abstract

This research describes major stressors in the lives of women who have been infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Thirty-one HIV antibody positive (HIV+) women infected primarily through heterosexual contact participated in a two hour semi-structured interview detailing the circumstances, context, and consequences of all stressful life events and difficulties experienced within the preceding six months. Qualitative methods of data analyses were utilized (Miles & Huberman, 1984). HIV-related life events and difficulties were classified into primary and secondary stressors based on the stress process model (Pearlin et al., 1981). Problems arising directly from one's seropositivity were defined as primary stressors. Stressful life events and difficulties occurring in other role areas were defined as secondary stressors. Six categories of HIV-related stressors were identified and quantified. Primary stressors were health-related, and included both gynecological problems (e.g., amenorrhea) and general symptoms of HIV infection (e.g., fatigue). Secondary stressors related to child and family (e.g., future guardianship of children), marital/partner relations (e.g., disclosure of HIV+ status), occupation (e.g., arranging time-off for medical appointments), economic problems (e.g., insurance "hassles"), and social network events (e.g., death of friends from AIDS). This research indicates that HIV-positive women are exposed to multiple stressors; some may be viewed as unique to women, whereas others may be considered common to both sexes. Identification of stressors has implications for the design of medical and psychiatric interventions for women.