Psychometric profile of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxious, and healthy Vietnam veterans: Correlations with psychophysiologic responses.

Abstract

Three groups of Vietnam combat veterans, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD, n = 25), anxious (n = 7), and healthy (n = 18), completed a battery of psychometric tests. Measurement of psychophysiologic responses to imagery of individualized combat experiences followed the psychometrics. The PTSD Ss differed significantly from the healthy Ss on almost all measures but showed fewer differences from the anxious Ss. The typical PTSD S was characterized as anxious, depressed, prone to dissociation, and external in locus of control. Correlations with the physiologic responses supported the validity of psychometric scales specifically designed to measure PTSD but cast doubt on the interpretation of traditional measures of overreporting or dissimulation in this disorder.

Objective assessment of peritraumatic dissociation: psychophysiological indicators

“…Lower physiological reactivity in the high dissociation group is surprising in light of the fact that most of the members of this group had PTSD symptoms. This finding contrasts with previous findings of generally higher physiological reactivity in subjects with PTSD (23)(24)(25)(26). The response of subjects in the high dissociation group may provide evidence of a specific PTSD subtype of highly dissociative individuals who may respond with a general physiological numbness.…”

“…However, at least with regard to the physiological data, previous findings do not support this conclusion. Orr et al (23) found physiological differences between combat veterans with PTSD and those without PTSD. The mean Beck Depression Inventory scores of their PTSD subjects were comparable to the Beck inventory scores of the subjects in our high dissociation group.…”

Differential Emotional Responding to Ideographic Cues of Traumatic Interpersonal Violence Compared to Non-Interpersonal Traumatic Experiences

“…Details obtained for all events included: location of the event, sensory experiences, and descriptive information (e.g., date, duration, others present during the event). Consistent with previously employed script-driven imagery procedures (e.g., Orr et al, 1990;Pitman et al, 1987), participants also completed a checklist of physiological sensations experienced during the events. The experimenter used this information to audio-record 30-sec narratives for each of the scripts, which were then used during the script-driven imagery procedure.…”

“…This assessment method is well-established for use with script-driven imagery procedures (e.g., Orr et al, 1990;Pitman et al, 1987). Following the presentation of each script, participants were asked to provide ratings of anger, disgust, and anxiety by placing an "X" on three separate 100 mm rating lines ranging from 0 (no anger/disgust/anxiety) to 100 (extreme anger/disgust/anxiety).…”

Anxiety, Depression and Anger in Dutch Resistance Veterans from World War II

“…Twelve veterans with PTSD had significantly elevated scores on the Zung depression scale and on the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, com pared to combat veterans without PTSD and noncombat psychiatric inpatients. Compara ble findings with the Beck Depression Inven tory and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory are described by Orr et al [7], who contrasted 25 Vietnam combat veterans, suffering from PTSD. with 7 anxious and 18 healthy combat veterans.…”