A comparison of PTSD symptom patterns in three types of civilian trauma.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is assumed to be an equivalent syndrome regardless of the type of traumatic event that precipitated it. However, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and previous research suggest that the clinical presentation of PTSD varies by trauma type.

Substance use behaviors as a mediator between posttraumatic stress disorder and physical health in trauma-exposed college students.

Introduction: Research within the field of traumatic stress has documented a strong link between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and adverse physical health outcomes, although the mechanisms contributing to this relationship are unclear.

Method: The current study examined substance use behaviors as one such mediator in a mixed civilian trauma population. Participants were 136 undergraduates exposed to a variety of civilian traumas.

The utility of the PAI and the MMPI-2 for discriminating PTSD, depression, and social phobia in trauma-exposed college students.

This study investigated the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Revised (MMPI-2; Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) with regard to each instrument's utility for discriminating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from depression and social phobia in a sample of college students with mixed civilian trauma exposure. Participants were 90 trauma-exposed undergraduates (16 male, 74 female) classified into one of four groups: PTSD, depressive disorders, social phobia, and well-adjusted. For both the PAI and the MMPI-2, profile analysis revealed that the groups differed in the elevation and shape of their profiles.

A comparison of personalized feedback for college student drinkers delivered with and without a motivational interview.

Objective: This study evaluated the relative efficacy of personalized drinking feedback (PDF) delivered with and without a motivational interview (MI) for college student drinkers.

Method: Heavy-drinking college students (N = 54; 691% female) were identified from a large screening sample and randomly assigned either to receive PDF during a single MI session or to receive PDF without an MI. Of these participants, 51 (94%) completed a 6-month follow-up assessment that included measures of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems.

Training and assessing complex decision-making in a virtual environment.

The current report describes a procedure for training and assessing complex decision-making in a virtual environment. Focusing on small unit leaders, 7 experienced and 7 inexperienced Army platoon leaders performed missions in a combat simulator, where they were required to direct the activities of 3 subordinate leaders and computer-generated forces in 4 different operations in a virtual urban setting. Objective and subjective assessments of the training value of the simulations showed that both experienced an inexperienced platoon leaders improved their decision-making across the four missions, and both groups rated this "virtual environment" training procedure as useful and positive.