Enjoying the violence of war: Association with posttraumatic symptomatology in U.S. combat veterans.

Objective: Engaging in war-related violence can have a devastating impact on military personnel, with research suggesting that injuring or killing others can contribute to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and moral injury. However, there is also evidence that perpetrating violence in war can become pleasurable to a substantial number of combatants and that developing this "appetitive" form of aggression can diminish PTSD severity. Secondary analyses were conducted on data from a study of moral injury in U.

Correlates of Incarceration History Among Military Veterans.

Veterans with histories of incarceration are at greater risk for poor physical and mental health outcomes, yet prior research in this population has focused on specific subsets of veterans or a narrow range of predictors. We utilized the Bronfenbrenner Socioecological Model as the framework to evaluate correlates of incarceration history in a large sample of Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans at four levels: demographic, historical, clinical, and contextual. Participants were 2,904 veterans (76.

Primary Care Engagement Among Individuals with Experiences of Homelessness and Serious Mental Illness: an Evidence Map.

Background: Experiences of homelessness and serious mental illness (SMI) negatively impact health and receipt of healthcare. Interventions that promote the use of primary care services for people with both SMI and homelessness may improve health outcomes, but this literature has not been evaluated systematically. This evidence map examines the breadth of literature to describe what intervention strategies have been studied for this population, elements of primary care integration with other services used, and the level of intervention complexity to highlight gaps for future intervention research and program development.

Ambulatory Heart Rate Variability Monitoring: Comparisons Between the Empatica E4 Wristband and Holter Electrocardiogram.

Objective: Heart rate variability (HRV) is a useful index of psychological and physiological stress. Although several wristband devices have purported to measure HRV, none have demonstrated reliability when compared with the criterion-standard Holter monitor. We evaluated the reliability of HRV readings from the Empatica E4 wristband compared with a Holter monitor over a 24-hour period of simultaneous monitoring.

A Comparison of Group Anger Management Treatments for Combat Veterans With PTSD: Results From a Quasi-Experimental Trial.

Difficulty controlling anger is a significant concern among combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet few controlled studies have examined the efficacy of anger treatments for this population. This study examined the effects of a group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention compared with a group present-centered therapy (PCT) control condition in male and female combat veterans with PTSD. Thirty-six combat veterans with PTSD and anger difficulties began group treatment (CBT, = 19; PCT, = 17).

Patient-centered behavioral services for women veterans with mental health conditions.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is undergoing a transformational shift from disease-focused care to a Whole Health model that emphasizes physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being. As this shift is occurring, women veterans using VHA services face challenges navigating a system that has historically served a primarily male demographic, without consistent consensus on which services require specialization by gender. A quality improvement project was conducted to solicit feedback on VHA behavioral and wellness programs from women veterans enrolled in VHA mental healthcare services.

Cannabis use disorder, anger, and violence in Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans.

An association has been found between cannabis use disorder (CUD) and violence in several clinical populations, including veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and there is evidence that CUD has been increasing among veterans since September 11, 2001. There is also evidence that some veterans may be attempting to self-medicate psychological problems including PTSD and aggression with cannabis, despite the lack of safety and efficacy data supporting this use. To date, however, the association between CUD and aggression has yet to be examined in a large, non-clinic sample of veterans.

Cognitive Rehabilitation With Mobile Technology and Social Support for Veterans With TBI and PTSD: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Objective: To investigate effects of cognitive rehabilitation with mobile technology and social support on veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Participants: There were 112 dyads, comprised by a veteran and a family member or friend (224 participants in total).

Design: Dyads were randomized to the following: (1) a novel intervention, Cognitive Applications for Life Management (CALM), involving goal management training plus mobile devices for cueing and training attentional control; or (2) Brain Health Training, involving psychoeducation plus mobile devices to train visual memory.

Effects of social support and resilient coping on violent behavior in military veterans.

Violence toward others has been identified as a serious postdeployment adjustment problem in a subset of Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans. In the current study, we examined the intricate links between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), commonly cited psychosocial risk and protective factors, and violent behavior using a national randomly selected longitudinal sample of Iraq- and Afghanistan-era United States veterans. A total of 1,090 veterans from the 50 United States and all United States military branches completed 2 waves of self-report survey-data collection 1 year apart (retention rate = 79%).

Association of posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury with aggressive driving in Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans.

Purpose: Aggressive driving contributes to the high rates of postdeployment motor vehicle-related injury and death observed among veterans, and veterans cite problems with anger, aggressive driving, and road rage as being among their most pressing driving-related concerns. Both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) have been associated with driving-related deficits in treatment-seeking samples of veterans, but the relative contribution of each of these conditions to problems with aggressive driving in the broader population of combat veterans is unclear.

Method: χ2 and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relative association of PTSD, TBI, and co-occurring PTSD and TBI to self-reported problems with road rage in a sample of 1,102 veterans living in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States who had served in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and interpersonal process in homeless veterans participating in a peer mentoring intervention: Associations with program benefit.

Homelessness among veterans has dropped dramatically since the expansion of services for homeless veterans in 2009, and now engaging homeless veterans in existing programs will be important to continuing to make progress. While one promising approach for engaging homeless veterans in care is involving peer mentors in integrated services, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may diminish the effects of peer mentorship. This mixed methods study examined how interpersonal and emotional processes in homeless veterans with and without PTSD impacted their capacity to engage in relationships with peer mentors.

Sociocultural discourse in science: Flawed assumptions and bias in the CLASH model.

In this commentary, we contest Van Lange and colleagues' central claim that "countries closer to the equator are generally more violent." We point to the lack of credible empirical evidence for this assertion and suggest that the CLASH model uses the language of science to lend false credibility to a problematic sociocultural discourse.

Characterizing anger-related affect in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder using ecological momentary assessment.

This study employed secondary analyses of existing ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data to characterize hostile and irritable affect in the day-to-day experience of 52 smokers with, and 65 smokers without, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). EMA monitoring occurred over a mean of 8.2 days, and participants responded to an average of 2.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Hostile Cognitions, and Aggression in Iraq/Afghanistan Era Veterans.

Objective: Most veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are not violent, yet research has demonstrated that there is a substantial minority who are at increased risk. This study tested hypotheses regarding hyperarousal symptoms and hostile cognitions (i.e.

Examining the Crux of Autonomic Dysfunction in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Whether Chronic or Situational Distress Underlies Elevated Heart Rate and Attenuated Heart Rate Variability.

Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to elevated heart rate (HR) and reduced heart rate variability (HRV) in cross-sectional research. Using ecological momentary assessment and minute-to-minute HRV/HR monitoring, we examined whether cross-sectional associations between PTSD symptom severity and HRV/HR were due to overall elevations in distress levels or to attenuated autonomic regulation during episodes of acute distress.

Methods: Two hundred nineteen young adults (18-39 years old), 99 with PTSD, underwent 1 day of Holter monitoring and concurrently reported distress levels via ecological momentary assessment.

Personality assessment inventory internalizing and externalizing structure in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: associations with aggression.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with aggressive behavior in veterans, and difficulty controlling aggressive urges has been identified as a primary postdeployment readjustment concern. Yet only a fraction of veterans with PTSD commit violent acts. The goals of this study were to (1) examine the higher-order factor structure of Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) scales in a sample of U.