Salivary Cortisol and Regional Brain Volumes Among Veterans With and Without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Background: Human studies have often found that brain regions rich in glucocorticoid receptors exhibit smaller volume in samples with past trauma and ongoing stress; however, relatively little research has addressed the hypothesis that such smaller volumes can be traced to elevated circulating glucocorticoid hormones (GCs). This issue takes on renewed interest in light of recent proposals to treat symptoms of stress disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with exogenous synthetic GCs. We sought to examine the relation of circulating GCs to brain macrostructure among veterans with and without PTSD.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and mortality in VA patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators.

Background: The association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mortality in patients undergoing implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) placement has not been evaluated in US veterans.

Hypothesis: PTSD in veterans with ICD is associated with increased mortality.

Methods: We studied a retrospective cohort of 25 678 veterans who underwent ICD implantation between September 30, 2002, and December 31, 2011.

The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation in military veterans.

The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) is an extensively validated and widely used structured diagnostic interview for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The CAPS was recently revised to correspond with PTSD criteria in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This article describes the development of the CAPS for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) and presents the results of an initial psychometric evaluation of CAPS-5 scores in 2 samples of military veterans (Ns = 165 and 207).

The Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5): Development and Evaluation Within a Veteran Primary Care Sample.

Background: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased health care utilization, medical morbidity, and tobacco and alcohol use. Consequently, screening for PTSD has become increasingly common in primary care clinics, especially in Veteran healthcare settings where trauma exposure among patients is common.

Objective: The objective of this study was to revise the Primary Care PTSD screen (PC-PTSD) to reflect the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria for PTSD (PC-PTSD-5) and to examine both the diagnostic accuracy and the patient acceptability of the revised measure.

Positive Adjustment Among American Repatriated Prisoners of the Vietnam War: Modeling the Long-Term Effects of Captivity.

A longitudinal lifespan model of factors contributing to later-life positive adjustment was tested on 567 American repatriated prisoners from the Vietnam War. This model encompassed demographics at time of capture and attributes assessed after return to the U.S.