The role of posttraumatic cognitions in integrated treatments for co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder.

Objective: Posttraumatic cognitions are a mechanism of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom reduction in trauma-focused interventions for PTSD. It is unclear how changes in posttraumatic cognitions are associated with important clinical correlates of PTSD, including drinking and psychosocial functioning. This study examined if changes in posttraumatic cognitions during integrated treatment for co-occurring PTSD/alcohol use disorder (AUD) were associated with concurrent improvements in PTSD severity, heavy drinking, and psychosocial functioning.

The influence of posttraumatic stress disorder treatment on anxiety sensitivity: Impact of prolonged exposure, sertraline, and their combination.

Trauma-informed beliefs often decrease during posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment. This may also extend to anxiety sensitivity (AS), defined as a fear of anxiety-related sensations and beliefs that anxiety is dangerous and/or intolerable. However, little is known about how AS changes during exposure-based and psychopharmacological PTSD treatments.

Open trial of a personalized feedback intervention and substance-free activity supplement for veterans with PTSD and hazardous drinking.

This study reports findings from an open trial of a two-session intervention for veterans with symptoms of PTSD and hazardous drinking. Rooted in behavioral economic theory, this intervention aimed to decrease alcohol use and increase alcohol-free activities through personalized and normative feedback. This trial assessed the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention in a sample of 15 veterans.

Posttraumatic stress disorder, drinking to cope, and harmful alcohol use: A multivariate meta-analysis of the self-medication hypothesis.

The association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and harmful alcohol use has often been explained through the self-medication hypothesis via coping-related drinking motives. However, the magnitude of the indirect effect of PTSD on harmful alcohol use through coping motives is unclear. This study aggregated this indirect effect using a meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach and explored moderators that influenced the indirect effect.

Behavioral economics and coping-related drinking motives in trauma exposed drinkers: Implications for the self-medication hypothesis.

Behavioral economic theory can help researchers understand complex behavior by considering the availability and economic value associated with an individual's choices. This study explored how behavioral economic constructs relate to alcohol consumption and alcohol problems in a sample of trauma-exposed young adults. We further explored whether these behavioral economic constructs explained unique variance in alcohol outcomes beyond coping-related drinking motives.

Use of Ecological Momentary Assessment and Intervention in Treatment With Adults.

This article reviews the use of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and ecological momentary intervention (EMI) in clinical research applications. EMA refers to a method of data collection that attempts to capture respondents' activities, emotions, and thoughts in the moment, in their natural environment. It typically uses prompts administered through a personal electronic device, such as a smartphone or tablet.

Alcohol use and coping in a cross-sectional study of African American homicide survivors.

The loss of a loved one to homicide is associated with considerable distress, often in the form of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complicated grief (CG), and alcohol misuse. Yet alcohol-related problems and loss from a homicide are issues that disproportionally affect African Americans. The present study investigated alcohol use in a sample of 54 African American homicide survivors.

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms improve after an integrated brief alcohol intervention for OEF/OIF/OND veterans.

Objective: Although brief alcohol interventions (BAIs) that incorporate personalized feedback demonstrate efficacy for reducing the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption in veteran samples, little research has explored the influence of BAIs in reducing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal of this investigation was to understand whether PTSD symptom severity and diagnostic status changed after exposure to an intervention that targeted alcohol misuse and integrated feedback on PTSD.

Method: Sixty-eight combat veterans (8.

Access to environmental reward mediates the relation between posttraumatic stress symptoms and alcohol problems and craving.

Symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTS) show significant comorbidity with alcohol use, but little is known about the mechanisms that might account for this comorbidity. Deficits in reward functioning have long been implicated in alcohol misuse and more recently in PTS reactions, but no study has examined whether reward deprivation may serve as a transdiagnostic risk factor for comorbid PTS-alcohol misuse. The current cross-sectional study sought to test the behavioral economic hypothesis that reward deprivation would be related to both PTS symptoms and alcohol problems, and would mediate the relation between PTS symptoms and alcohol problems in college students.

The Utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory in the Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in OEF/OIF/OND Veterans.

We examined the use of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in a small sample of 47 U.S. military veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Drinking motives and PTSD-related alcohol expectancies among combat veterans.

Introduction: Combat veterans are at increased risk for PTSD and alcohol misuse, and expectancies and motives for drinking may help explain the link between these comorbid issues. This investigation explored the relationships between PTSD symptoms, PTSD-related alcohol expectancies, motives for drinking, and alcohol consumption/misuse.

Method: 67 veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) participated in this project.

Posttraumatic Stress and Physical Health Functioning: Moderating Effects of Deployment and Postdeployment Social Support in OEF/OIF/OND Veterans.

Research indicates that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is strongly associated with physical health difficulties, and that social support may be protective for both problems. Social support, however, is often broadly conceptualized. The present analysis explores how Veteran-specific social support (during military deployment and postdeployment) may moderate the relationship between PTSD and physical health functioning.

Deployment stressors and physical health among OEF/OIF veterans: the role of PTSD.

Objective: There is a large body of literature documenting the relationship between traumatic stress and deleterious physical health outcomes. Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have been proposed to explain this relationship, previous research has produced inconsistent results when moderating variables such as gender or type of traumatic stressor are considered. Within a large sample of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Veterans, the current study examined if deployment stressors (i.

Injunctive norms for alcohol-related consequences and protective behavioral strategies: effects of gender and year in school.

Perceived drinking norms have received increased attention as one determinant of high levels of college alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Excessive drinking is widely visible on college campuses, and students may therefore assume that it is peer-supported (Kitts, 2003). Research into peer relations indicates that the perceived approval of important others predicts drinking behavior (Neighbors, Lee, Lewis, Fossos, & Larimer, 2007).