Selective numbing and hyperarousal in male and female Bosnian refugees with PTSD

Spahic-Mihajlovic, Aida; Crayton, John W.; Neafsey, Edward J.

doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2004.03.004

Cited by 24 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…As hypothesized, those with PTSD reported more general numbing symptoms compared with those without PTSD. Consistent with previous research (Amdur et al, 2000;Litz et al, 2000;Orsillo et al, 2004;Spahic-Mihajlovic et al, 2005), individuals with PTSD reported greater numbing in response to positive cues. Additionally, individuals with PTSD reported a greater reactivity to anger and sadness cues when compared with those without PTSD.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Emotional Reactivity and Numbing Scale

Orsillo¹,

Theodore‐Oklota²,

Luterek³

et al. 2007

Journal of Nervous &Amp; Mental Disease

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Recent research has highlighted the role of hyperresponsivity and numbing of emotions in posttraumatic stress disorder. Preliminary research suggests that emotional numbing symptoms impact the development, maintenance, and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. However, research in this area has been hindered, in part, due to the absence of a psychometrically sound, conceptually based measure of emotional numbing. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Emotional Reactivity and Numbing Scale in a sample of 92 trauma-exposed men and women veterans. Results provide preliminary support for the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent, and discriminant validity of the measure. Implications for future research are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Emotional Reactivity and Numbing Scale

Orsillo¹,

Theodore‐Oklota²,

Luterek³

et al. 2007

Journal of Nervous &Amp; Mental Disease

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“…These ‘normed responses’ have yielded good agreement with control subjects in others studies (e.g. Spahic-Mihajlovic et al 2005) and were deemed appropriate for use with the present population.…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 65%

“…At least four studies have explored emotional processing in PTSD using the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) task to evaluate evidence for two forms of emotional abnormality: numbing and heightened negative emotionality (Amdur et al 2000; Litz et al 2000; Spahic-Mihajlovic et al 2005; Wolf et al 2009) with conflicting results. Disparity in findings among this research could be due to the differences in trauma type, time elapsed since the trauma, or reflect a lack of clinical sensitivity and clinical significance for the IAPS.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional Processing in Individuals with Substance Use Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Kemmis

Wanigaratne

Ehntholt

2017

Int J Ment Health Addiction

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Previous research has shown that individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have emotional processing difficulties. However, no studies have specifically investigated the role of emotional processing in those with co-morbid SUD-PTSD. This study investigated whether there are more emotional processing abnormalities among patients with SUD-PTSD, than those with either a single diagnosis of PTSD or SUD. Emotional processing was assessed in three groups [1) SUD (without PTSD); 2) PTSD (without SUD); and 3) co-morbid SUD-PTSD] using the Emotional Processing Scale (EPS-25) and the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Each of the three groups reported evidence of emotional processing dysfunction relative to the normal population. Within the SUD-PTSD group there was significant evidence that the additional impact of trauma increased emotional processing dysfunction but less evidence to suggest that substance use increased emotional processing dysfunction further. These findings call into question current United Kingdom guidelines for the treatment of co-morbid SUD-PTSD, which recommend that the drug or alcohol problem should be treated first.

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“…Similarly, some prior research with depressed samples has also failed to show group differences in ratings of valence and arousal in response to IAPS images (Allen et al, 1999) and those that have reported differences have yielded inconsistent results (see Dunn et al, 2004; Sloan et al, 1997; Sloan et al, 2001). To our knowledge, only one prior study (Spahic-Mihajlovic et al, 2005) has reported evidence of self-reported numbing in response to evocative images. In that study, Bosnian men and women with PTSD responded with lower arousal in response to pleasant photographs compared to controls.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Self-report studies have shown various patterns of results ranging from: (a) no differences in ratings under neutral conditions between individuals with versus without PTSD (Litz et al, 2000; Miller & Litz, 2004; Wessa et al, 2005), (b) enhanced ratings of discrete negative emotions in response to non-trauma-related photographs and films (Amdur et al, 2000; Orsillo et al, 2004), (c) diminished ratings of specific positive emotions during image processing (Amdur et al, 2000), (d) diminished ratings of arousal in response to pleasant photographs (Spahic-Mihajlovic, Crayton, & Neafsey, 2005), to (e) increased ratings of arousal and unpleasant affect in response to trauma-related photographs in both recently traumatized individuals and those with PTSD (Elsesser, Sartory, & Tackenberg, 2004). Psychophysiological studies, in comparison, have produced fairly consistent evidence of heightened physiological reactivity to trauma cues in individuals with PTSD relative to controls (for a review, see Orr et al, 2004).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional Processing in PTSD

Wolf¹,

Miller²,

McKinney³

2009

Journal of Nervous &Amp; Mental Disease

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This study evaluated evidence for two forms of emotional abnormality in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): numbing and heightened negative emotionality. Forty-nine male veterans with PTSD and 75 without the disorder rated their emotional responses to photographs that depicted scenes of Vietnam combat or were drawn from the International Affective Picture System (Lang et al., 2005). Images varied in their trauma-relatedness and affective qualities. A series of repeated measures ANOVAs revealed that Vietnam combat veterans with PTSD responded to unpleasant images with greater negative emotional emotionality (i.e., enhanced arousal and lower valence ratings) than those without the disorder and this effect was modified by the trauma-relatedness of the image with stronger effects for trauma-related images. In contrast, the two groups showed equivalent patterns of responses to pleasant images. Findings raise questions about the sensitivity of the IAPS rating protocol for the assessment of PTSD-related emotional numbing.

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Selective numbing and hyperarousal in male and female Bosnian refugees with PTSD

Cited by 24 publications

References 45 publications

The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Emotional Reactivity and Numbing Scale

The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Emotional Reactivity and Numbing Scale

Emotional Processing in Individuals with Substance Use Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Emotional Processing in PTSD

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