An evaluation of the validity of a script-driven imagery procedure among traumatic event-exposed adolescents.

Objective: Adult research employing script-driven imagery procedures has shown the method to be a valuable tool for studying the nature, correlates, and consequences of trauma and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). The purpose of the current study was to examine the validity of a trauma-focused script-driven imagery procedure among youth.

Method: Responding to script-driven imagery was examined in relation to PTSS among 60 traumatic event-exposed adolescents, ages 10 to 17 years.

Violent interpersonal trauma predicts aggressive thoughts and behaviors towards self and others: findings from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement.

Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to examine the relation between adolescent traumatic event exposure and aggression directed towards the self and others. Theoretical perspectives underscore the particularly pernicious effects of violent traumas intentionally perpetrated by others in terms of negative posttraumatic outcomes. However, a careful comparison of trauma type in relation to aggression has not been done with youth.

Affective lability predicts decreased habituation in posttraumatic stress symptom responding during a single laboratory session of imaginal exposure.

Affective lability, or the instability of emotional states, is associated with heightened levels of trauma-related emotional responding and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. However, the impact of affective lability, specifically on habituation to idiographic trauma cues, has yet to be examined among trauma-exposed individuals. The current study examined differential response trajectories to trauma-related imaginal exposure as a function of affective lability.

An Examination of Social Anxiety in Marijuana and Cigarette Use Motives Among Adolescents.

Marijuana and nicotine are two of the most widely used substances among adolescents in the United States. Symptoms of social anxiety (SA) typically emerge during early adolescence, and elevated levels are associated with increased substance-related problems despite inconsistent links to frequency of use. Substance use motives, and in particular coping motives, have been found to play an important role in understanding the heightened risk for use problems among those with elevated SA.

Anxiety Sensitivity and Its Factors in Relation to Generalized Anxiety Disorder among Adolescents.

Anxiety psychopathology, one of the most prevalent classes of disorder among youth, is linked to detrimental outcomes. Accordingly, identifying factors that influence vulnerability to anxiety disorders is important. One promising factor, given emerging evidence for its transdiagnostic nature, is anxiety sensitivity (AS); however, relatively little is known about the linkage between AS and indicators of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), particularly among youth.

Indirect effects of smoking motives on adolescent anger dysregulation and smoking.

Cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes of disease and death in the United States, and smoking typically begins in adolescence. It is therefore important to understand factors that relate to increased risk for cigarette smoking during this stage of development. Adolescence is a period when emotion regulatory capacities are still emerging and a common affective state to be regulated is anger, which adult research has linked to nicotine use.