Randomized controlled trial of a brief Internet-based intervention for families of Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Unlabelled: Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their families require resources to cope with postdeployment readjustment. Responding to this need, the current study examined a brief Internet-based intervention that provided Veterans' families with psychoeducation on postdeployment readjustment. Participants were 103 dyads of Veterans with probable PTSD and a designated family member/partner.

Multiple deployments and combat trauma: do homefront stressors increase the risk for posttraumatic stress symptoms?

Multiple deployments are common among military personnel who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom and are associated with greater posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Homefront stressors (i.e.

Increased risk of alcohol dependency in a cohort of National Guard troops with PTSD: a longitudinal study.

Studies show high rates of co-morbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) but there is no consensus on the causal direction of the relationship. Some theories suggest AUD develops as a coping mechanism to manage PTSD symptoms and others that AUD is a vulnerability factor for PTSD. A third hypothesis posits independent developmental pathways stemming from a shared etiology, such as the trauma exposure itself.

Gender differences in the risk and protective factors associated with PTSD: a prospective study of National Guard troops deployed to Iraq.

This study examines gender differences in post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and PTSS risk/protective factors among soldiers deployed to Iraq. We pay special attention to two potentially modifiable military factors, military preparedness and unit cohesion, which may buffer the deleterious psychological effects of combat. Longitudinal data were collected on 922 New Jersey National Guard soldiers (91 women) deployed to Iraq in 2008.

Readjustment stressors and early mental health treatment seeking by returning National Guard soldiers with PTSD.

Objectives: Readjustment stressors are commonly encountered by veterans returning from combat operations and may help motivate treatment seeking for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study examined rates of readjustment stressors (marital, family, and employment) and their relationship to early mental health treatment seeking among returning National Guard soldiers with PTSD.

Methods: Participants were 157 soldiers who were surveyed approximately three months after returning from combat operations in Iraq and scored positive on the PTSD Checklist (PCL).

A brief treatment engagement intervention for individuals with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders: results of a randomized clinical trial.

Study objectives were to evaluate a brief intervention designed to facilitate outpatient engagement following an inpatient psychiatric stay for individuals with mental illness and substance use. A total of 102 veterans were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) Time Limited Care-Coordination (TLC), an eight-week co-occurring disorders intervention or (2) a matched attention (MA) control condition in the form of health education sessions. Both groups also received treatment as usual in inpatient and outpatient settings.

Effects of repeated deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan on the health of New Jersey Army National Guard troops: implications for military readiness.

Objectives: We assessed the effects of prior military service in Iraq or Afghanistan on the health of New Jersey Army National Guard members preparing for deployment to Iraq.

Methods: We analyzed anonymous, self-administered predeployment surveys from 2543 National Guard members deployed to Iraq in 2008. We used bivariate and multivariate analyses to measure the effects of prior service in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom [OEF]) or Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF]) on mental and physical health.

Early experiences of employing consumer-providers in the VA.

Objectives: Following guidelines in the mental health strategic plan of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VA began in 2005 to fund a number of new positions for consumer-providers (CPs)--that is, individuals with personal experience of serious mental illness who provide support services to others with serious mental illness, typically as clinical team members. This study explored the challenges of CP implementation in its early stages within the VA.

Methods: Four focus groups were conducted with a total of 59 VA CPs and 34 VA supervisors from across the United States.

Schizophrenia with obsessive compulsive features.

While the obsessive compulsive (OC) phenomena in schizophrenia have been described over the years, the condition has received increasing attention in recent years. The clinical and biological significance of OC symptoms in schizophrenia, however, still remain controversial. Although OC symptoms in schizophrenia were once thought to occur rarely and were associated with more benign clinical courses, recent studies have shown greater prevalence rate and poor outcome.

The efficacy of olanzapine for decreasing cue-elicited craving in individuals with schizophrenia and cocaine dependence: a preliminary report.

Objective: Although a growing body of research suggests that atypical neuroleptic medications are efficacious in the treatment of cocaine addiction among individuals with schizophrenia, more rigorously controlled trials are needed. To extend this research, we performed a 6-week double-blind study comparing olanzapine to haloperidol with the primary objective of reducing cue-elicited cocaine craving and the secondary aims of decreasing substance use, improving psychiatric symptoms, and determining an effect size for future studies.

Methods: Thirty-one subjects with cocaine dependence and schizophrenia were randomized to olanzapine or haloperidol, underwent a cue-exposure procedure, and completed psychiatric and substance abuse ratings.

The validity and reliability of a brief measure of cocaine craving.

Introduction: Although craving plays an important role in relapse, there are few brief, valid and reliable instruments to measure the desire to use cocaine in routine clinical practice. The 45-item Cocaine Craving Questionnaire-Now (CCQ-Now) is widely used in research, but its length makes its use in everyday clinical work relatively impractical. This study sought to determine the psychometric properties of the CCQ-Brief, a measure composed of 10 items from the CCQ-Now, in treatment-seeking cocaine abusers.

A double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study of risperidone for decreasing cue-elicited craving in recently withdrawn cocaine dependent patients.

Cocaine use causes an initial increase in dopamine and serotonin neurotransmission that is largely responsible for the pleasurable and reinforcing effects of the drug. Dysregulation of these neurotransmitters during withdrawal plays an important role in craving. Recent research has focused on the use of dopamine and serotonin antagonists early in recovery to reduce cocaine craving in both schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic cocaine dependent patients.

Cognitive disparity in schizophrenics with and without cocaine dependency.

Although cognition has been investigated in individuals with schizophrenia and in non-schizophrenic cocaine abusers, few studies have focused on cocaine-abusing schizophrenics. Previous studies have shown contradictory results despite the fact that individuals with schizophrenia and cocaine dependence have worse long-term outcomes, and that each disorder separately is associated with neuropsychological impairment. The present study intended to clarify these inconsistencies with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery.

An analysis of cue reactivity among persons with and without schizophrenia who are addicted to cocaine.

Objective: Persons with schizophrenia who are addicted to cocaine experience more psychiatric and substance abuse relapses and worse long-term outcomes than persons with only one of these conditions. This study examined whether individuals with cocaine dependence and schizophrenia experience more cue-elicited craving than those without schizophrenia.

Methods: Ninety-one cocaine-dependent participants who had been abstinent from cocaine for at least 72 hours were recruited from substance abuse treatment programs in the Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System.

Risperidone decreases craving and relapses in individuals with schizophrenia and cocaine dependence.

Objective: To examine the efficacy of atypical neuroleptics for decreasing craving and drug relapses during protracted withdrawal in individuals dually diagnosed with schizophrenia and cocaine dependence.

Method: We conducted a 6-week, open-label pilot study comparing risperidone with typical neuroleptics in a sample of withdrawn cocaine-dependent schizophrenia patients.

Results: Preliminary results suggest that individuals treated with risperidone had significantly less cue-elicited craving and substance abuse relapses at study completion.

Normative data for healthy elderly persons with the neurobehavioral cognitive status exam (Cognistat).

This study provides normative data about the cognitive functioning of 134 nonpsychiatric, non-neurological healthy elderly persons ranging from 60 to 85 years of age with the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (Cognistat). Most areas of cognitive functioning remain grossly intact for all age levels. Construction and memory showed evidence of decline with age.

Association of diabetes mellitus with use of atypical neuroleptics in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Objective: The development of both type I and type II diabetes after initiation of some atypical neuroleptics has been reported, primarily in studies involving small series of patients. This study used administrative data from a large national sample of patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia to compare the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in patients receiving prescriptions for atypical and typical neuroleptics.

Method: All outpatients with schizophrenia treated with typical and atypical neuroleptics over 4 months in 1999 in the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) were included in this study.

Risperidone in Elderly Schizophrenic Patients: An Open-Label Trial.

The authors assessed the safety and efficacy of risperidone in a group of elderly patients with chronic schizophrenia and behavioral disturbances (N = 10). There were no clinically significant changes on physical examination. Also, schizophrenic symptoms and cognitive performance improved during risperidone administration.