BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that assessment of threat-related attention bias may be useful in identifying soldiers at risk for clinical symptoms. The present study assessed the degree to which soldiers experienced combat events and showed attentional threat avoidance affected their reported levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety symptoms. METHODS: Four months after a combat deployment to Iraq, 63 US soldiers completed a survey assessing combat exposures and clinical symptoms as well as a dot-probe task assessing threat-related attention bias. RESULTS: Significant three-way interactions regressing threat reaction times (RTs), neutral RTs, and combat exposure on PTSD and anxiety symptoms were observed. Specifically, soldiers with high levels of combat exposure, who were more likely to demonstrate attentional bias away from threat, were also more symptomatic. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate the potential of threat-related attention bias as a behavioral marker of PTSD and anxiety symptoms in a high-risk military occupational context. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that assessment of threat-related attention bias may be useful in identifying soldiers at risk for clinical symptoms. The present study assessed the degree to which soldiers experienced combat events and showed attentional threat avoidance affected their reported levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety symptoms. METHODS: Four months after a combat deployment to Iraq, 63 US soldiers completed a survey assessing combat exposures and clinical symptoms as well as a dot-probe task assessing threat-related attention bias. RESULTS: Significant three-way interactions regressing threat reaction times (RTs), neutral RTs, and combat exposure on PTSD and anxiety symptoms were observed. Specifically, soldiers with high levels of combat exposure, who were more likely to demonstrate attentional bias away from threat, were also more symptomatic. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate the potential of threat-related attention bias as a behavioral marker of PTSD and anxiety symptoms in a high-risk military occupational context. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Authors: Amit Lazarov; Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez; Rany Abend; Reut Naim; Erel Shvil; Liat Helpman; Xi Zhu; Santiago Papini; Ariel Duroski; Rony Rom; Franklin R Schneier; Daniel S Pine; Yair Bar-Haim; Yuval Neria Journal: Psychol Med Date: 2018-11-12 Impact factor: 7.723
Authors: Jennie M Kuckertz; Nader Amir; Joseph W Boffa; Ciara K Warren; Susan E M Rindt; Sonya Norman; Vasudha Ram; Lauretta Ziajko; Jennifer Webb-Murphy; Robert McLay Journal: Behav Res Ther Date: 2014-09-16
Authors: Amit Lazarov; Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez; Amanda Tamman; Louise Falzon; Xi Zhu; Donald E Edmondson; Yuval Neria Journal: Psychol Med Date: 2018-09-04 Impact factor: 7.723
Authors: Rebecca B Price; Jennie M Kuckertz; Greg J Siegle; Cecile D Ladouceur; Jennifer S Silk; Neal D Ryan; Ronald E Dahl; Nader Amir Journal: Psychol Assess Date: 2014-11-24
Authors: Reut Naim; Rany Abend; Ilan Wald; Sharon Eldar; Ofir Levi; Eyal Fruchter; Karen Ginat; Pinchas Halpern; Maurice L Sipos; Amy B Adler; Paul D Bliese; Phillip J Quartana; Daniel S Pine; Yair Bar-Haim Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2015-07-24 Impact factor: 18.112