Transdiagnostic emotion regulation processes explain how emotion-related factors affect co-occurring PTSD and MDD in relation to trauma.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) co-occur at high rates and greater disorder severity. Studies examining the contributions of specific emotion regulation (ER) processes and negative affect (NA) to PTSD and MDD co-occurrence are scarce. This study investigated a transdiagnostic understanding of the nature of PTSD and MDD co-occurrence by examining the roles of NA, ER processes, and negative mood regulation (NMR) expectancies in PTSD and MDD in relation to trauma.

An intensive outpatient program with prolonged exposure for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: Retention, predictors, and patterns of change.

High rates of drop-out from treatment of PTSD have challenged implementation. Care models that integrate PTSD focused psychotherapy and complementary interventions may provide benefit in retention and outcome. The first 80 veterans with chronic PTSD enrolled in a 2-week intensive outpatient program combining Prolonged Exposure (PE) and complementary interventions completed symptom and biological measures at baseline and posttreatment.

Investigation of optimal dose of early intervention to prevent posttraumatic stress disorder: A multiarm randomized trial of one and three sessions of modified prolonged exposure.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked to a specific event, providing the opportunity to intervene in the immediate aftermath of trauma to prevent the development of this disorder. A previous trial demonstrated that trauma survivors who received three sessions of modified prolonged exposure therapy demonstrated decreased PTSD and depression prospectively compared to assessment only. The present study investigated the optimal dosing of this early intervention to test one versus three sessions of exposure therapy in the immediate aftermath of trauma.

In session extinction and outcome in Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for PTSD.

Recent research emphasizes emotional engagement and between-session extinction, but no longer within-session extinction, as the primary mechanisms underlying exposure therapy for the treatment of PTSD. No previous studies have examined change in subjective units of distress (SUDS) in virtual reality exposure (VRE) for PTSD despite its potential facilitation of engagement (see McLay et al., 2012; Reger & Gahm, 2008).

You can do that?!: Feasibility of virtual reality exposure therapy in the treatment of PTSD due to military sexual trauma.

This initial feasibility study examined the use of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRE) in the treatment of MST-related PTSD, with newly developed content tailored to MST. Participants included 15 veterans (26% male) with MST-related PTSD. Assessment of PTSD, depression, and psychophysiological indicators of distress occurred at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up.

Psychological and psychobiological responses to immediate early intervention in the emergency department: Case report of one-session exposure therapy for the prevention of PTSD.

Research suggests that exposure therapy provided in the hours immediately following trauma exposure may prevent PTSD development. This case report presents data on an at-risk for PTSD participant involved in a motor-vehicle crash that caused her severe distress. She received one session of exposure therapy in the emergency department (ED) as part of an ongoing randomized controlled study examining the optimal dose of exposure therapy in the immediate aftermath of trauma.

Targeting memory reconsolidation to prevent the return of fear in patients with fear of flying.

Background: When a memory is recalled, it may again exist in a labile state and stored information becomes amenable to change, a psychobiological process known as reconsolidation. Exposure therapy for anxiety disorders involves accessing a fear memory and modifying it with less fearful information. A preclinical study reported that providing a reminder of a fear memory 10 min prior to extinction training in humans decreased fear up to 1 year later (Schiller et al.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression co-occurrence: Structural relations among disorder constructs and trait and symptom dimensions.

Objectives: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) in response to trauma co-occur at high rates. A better understanding of the nature of this co-occurrence is critical to developing an accurate conceptualization of the disorders. This study examined structural relations among the PTSD and MDD constructs and trait and symptom dimensions within the framework of the integrative hierarchical model of anxiety and depression.

Teaching Trauma-Focused Exposure Therapy for PTSD: Critical Clinical Lessons for Novice Exposure Therapists.

Over the past 10 years, our experiences delivering exposure therapy and teaching clinicians to deliver exposure therapy for PTSD have taught us some important lessons. We will focus on lessons learned as we have attended to clinicians' experiences as they begin to implement and apply the therapy. Specifically, we highlight common therapist expectations including the beliefs that the exposure therapy requires a new set of clinical skills, therapists themselves will experience a high level of distress hearing about traumatic events, and clients will become overly distressed.

Understanding the relationship between co-occurring PTSD and MDD: symptom severity and affect.

How to best understand theoretically the nature of the relationship between co-occurring PTSD and MDD (PTSD+MDD) is unclear. In a sample of 173 individuals with chronic PTSD, we examined whether the data were more consistent with current co-occurring MDD as a separate construct or as a marker of posttraumatic stress severity, and whether the relationship between PTSD and MDD is a function of shared symptom clusters and affect components. Results showed that the more severe depressive symptoms found in PTSD+MDD as compared to PTSD remained after controlling for PTSD symptom severity.

Factors Associated with Choice of Exposure Therapy for PTSD.

Exposure therapy, despite its demonstrated efficacy for chronic PTSD, remains underutilized across clinical settings. One suggested cause is that traumatized clients may not prefer exposure treatment. This paper reviews the current literature on factors associated with treatment preference for exposure therapy.