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Chiu HTS, Low DCW, Chan AHT, Meiser-Stedman R. Relationship between anxiety sensitivity and post-traumatic stress symptoms in trauma-exposed adults: A meta-analysis. J Anxiety Disord 2024; 103:102857. [PMID: 38507961 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2024.102857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Given the high rate of trauma exposure among the general population, it is important to delineate the risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While historically implicated in panic disorder, anxiety sensitivity is increasingly found to play a role in PTSD. The present review investigated the size of the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and PTSD symptoms among trauma exposed adults. A systematic search on multiple electronic databases (PTSDpubs, CINAHL, MEDLINE and PsycINFO) generated a total of 1025 records, among which 52 (n = 15173) met study inclusion criteria and were included in our random effects meta-analysis. Our results indicated a medium effect size (r = .46, 95% CI =.41,.50) for the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and PTSD symptoms. There was significant between-study heterogeneity. Furthermore, sub-group analyses revealed that study design (cross-sectional vs. longitudinal) may significantly moderate the association between anxiety sensitivity and PTSD severity. No moderation effect was found for assessment of PTSD through interview versus questionnaire, interpersonal versus non-interpersonal trauma, or low versus high study quality. Such patterns of results are consistent with cognitive models of PTSD. Clinical implications, strengths and limitations of the review were discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry Tak Shing Chiu
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Therapies, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
| | - Debbie Chi Wing Low
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, UK
| | - Angel Hiu Tung Chan
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Therapies, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Richard Meiser-Stedman
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Therapies, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
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2
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Pace-Schott EF, Seo J, Bottary R. The influence of sleep on fear extinction in trauma-related disorders. Neurobiol Stress 2022; 22:100500. [PMID: 36545012 PMCID: PMC9761387 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2022.100500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Revised: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), fear and anxiety become dysregulated following psychologically traumatic events. Regulation of fear and anxiety involves both high-level cognitive processes such as cognitive reattribution and low-level, partially automatic memory processes such as fear extinction, safety learning and habituation. These latter processes are believed to be deficient in PTSD. While insomnia and nightmares are characteristic symptoms of existing PTSD, abundant recent evidence suggests that sleep disruption prior to and acute sleep disturbance following traumatic events both can predispose an individual to develop PTSD. Sleep promotes consolidation in multiple memory systems and is believed to also do so for low-level emotion-regulatory memory processes. Consequently sleep disruption may contribute to the etiology of PTSD by interfering with consolidation in low-level emotion-regulatory memory systems. During the first weeks following a traumatic event, when in the course of everyday life resilient individuals begin to acquire and consolidate these low-level emotion-regulatory memories, those who will develop PTSD symptoms may fail to do so. This deficit may, in part, result from alterations of sleep that interfere with their consolidation, such as REM fragmentation, that have also been found to presage later PTSD symptoms. Here, sleep disruption in PTSD as well as fear extinction, safety learning and habituation and their known alterations in PTSD are first briefly reviewed. Then neural processes that occur during the early post-trauma period that might impede low-level emotion regulatory processes through alterations of sleep quality and physiology will be considered. Lastly, recent neuroimaging evidence from a fear conditioning and extinction paradigm in patient groups and their controls will be considered along with one possible neural process that may contribute to a vulnerability to PTSD following trauma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward F. Pace-Schott
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Corresponding author. Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital - East, CNY 149 13th Street, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA.
| | - Jeehye Seo
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Korea University, Department of Brain & Cognitive Engineering, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Ryan Bottary
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
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3
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Short NA, Zvolensky MJ, Schmidt NB. A pilot randomized clinical trial of Brief Behavioral Treatment for Insomnia to reduce problematic cannabis use among trauma-exposed young adults. J Subst Abuse Treat 2021; 131:108537. [PMID: 34148759 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2020] [Revised: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Insomnia symptoms may be an important etiological factor for substance use disorders; however, whether improving sleep leads to reductions in problematic substance use among at-risk populations remains unclear. METHOD As such, the current pilot study used a randomized controlled design to test the effects of Brief Behavioral Treatment for Insomnia (BBTI) against a waitlist control among a sample of trauma-exposed young adults with elevated insomnia symptoms who regularly use cannabis (N = 56). RESULTS Intent-to-treat multilevel modeling analyses indicated that BBTI may be more efficacious than waitlist control in reducing self-reported insomnia symptoms, with large effects three months post-treatment (d = 1.34). Further, our initial evidence suggested that BBTI resulted in reductions in cannabis-related problems with medium to large effects at three months post-treatment (d = 0.75). The current pilot analyses indicated BBTI also reduced cravings to use cannabis to reduce negative emotions in response to trauma cues with a large effect size. CONCLUSION This pilot study suggests BBTI may be efficacious not only in improving insomnia symptoms among cannabis users but also in reducing cannabis-related problems and cravings over three months. Future research should replicate these results in a larger, fully powered sample with improved follow-up rates designed to test temporal mediation using multimethod assessments of insomnia symptoms and problematic cannabis use. Overall, BBTI may be a promising intervention for trauma-exposed cannabis users to improve sleep and reduce cannabis-related problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole A Short
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA; Department of Anesthesiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Michael J Zvolensky
- Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA; MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Norman B Schmidt
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
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4
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De Rozario MR, Van Velzen LS, Davies P, Rice SM, Davey CG, Robinson J, Alvarez-Jimenez M, Allott K, McKechnie B, Felmingham KL, Schmaal L. Mental images of suicide: Theoretical framework and preliminary findings in depressed youth attending outpatient care. JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS REPORTS 2021; 4:100114. [PMID: 36567757 PMCID: PMC9785063 DOI: 10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- MR De Rozario
- Orygen, Parkville, Australia,Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia,Corresponding author at: Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, 35 Poplar Rd, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3052, Australia. (M. De Rozario)
| | - LS Van Velzen
- Orygen, Parkville, Australia,Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - P Davies
- Orygen, Parkville, Australia,Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - SM Rice
- Orygen, Parkville, Australia,Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - CG Davey
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - J Robinson
- Orygen, Parkville, Australia,Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - M Alvarez-Jimenez
- Orygen, Parkville, Australia,Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - K Allott
- Orygen, Parkville, Australia,Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | | | - KL Felmingham
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - L Schmaal
- Orygen, Parkville, Australia,Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
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5
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Yin Q, Chen A, Song X, Deng G, Dong W. Risk Perception and PTSD Symptoms of Medical Staff Combating Against COVID-19: A PLS Structural Equation Model. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:607612. [PMID: 33658951 PMCID: PMC7917132 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.607612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Medical staff were battling against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at the expense of their physical and mental health, particularly at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this case, intervening PTSD of medical staff and preparing them for future outbreaks are important. Previous studies showed that perceived stress was related to the development of PTSD. Hence, in this study, the association between risk perception of medical staff and PTSD symptoms in COVID-19 and the potential links were explored. Three hundred four medical staff's exposure to COVID-19 patients, risk perception for working during COVID-19, PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and sleep quality were measured. Mediation analysis tested the indirect effects of anxiety and sleep quality on the relationship between risk perceptions and PTSD symptoms; 27.6% of participants were deemed as having probable PTSD diagnosis. Mediation analysis showed a significant chain-mediating effect of anxiety and sleep quality on the relationships between risk perceptions and PTSD symptoms; higher risk perceptions were related to increased anxiety, worsened sleep quality, and severe PTSD symptoms. Conclusively, medical staff have a high prevalence of PTSD symptoms after 3 months of COVID-19. Their PTSD symptoms were associated with the perceived risk level through the potential links with anxiety and sleep quality. Therefore, risk perception could be critical for our medical staff's responses to public health emergencies. It could be plausible to intervene in the perceived stress to alleviate aroused anxiety and improve sleep quality and thereby deter the development of PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Guanghui Deng
- Department of Naval Aviation and Operational Psychology, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei Dong
- Department of Naval Aviation and Operational Psychology, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
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6
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Xiao H, Zhang Y, Kong D, Li S, Yang N. Social Capital and Sleep Quality in Individuals Who Self-Isolated for 14 Days During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in January 2020 in China. Med Sci Monit 2020; 26:e923921. [PMID: 32194290 PMCID: PMC7111105 DOI: 10.12659/msm.923921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 481] [Impact Index Per Article: 120.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background From the end of December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began to spread in central China. Social capital is a measure of social trust, belonging, and participation. This study aimed to investigate the effects of social capital on sleep quality and the mechanisms involved in people who self-isolated at home for 14 days in January 2020 during the COVID-19 epidemic in central China. Methods Individuals (n=170) who self-isolated at home for 14 days in central China, completed self-reported questionnaires on the third day of isolation. Individual social capital was assessed using the Personal Social Capital Scale 16 (PSCI-16) questionnaire. Anxiety was assessed using the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) questionnaire, stress was assessed using the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction (SASR) questionnaire, and sleep was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire. Path analysis was performed to evaluate the relationships between a dependent variable (social capital) and two or more independent variables, using Pearson’s correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results Low levels of social capital were associated with increased levels of anxiety and stress, but increased levels of social capital were positively associated with increased quality of sleep. Anxiety was associated with stress and reduced sleep quality, and the combination of anxiety and stress reduced the positive effects of social capital on sleep quality. Conclusion During a period of individual self-isolation during the COVID-19 virus epidemic in central China, increased social capital improved sleep quality by reducing anxiety and stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Xiao
- Department of Respiration, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China (mainland)
| | - Yan Zhang
- College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China (mainland)
| | - Desheng Kong
- College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China (mainland)
| | - Shiyue Li
- School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China (mainland)
| | - Ningxi Yang
- College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China (mainland)
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7
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Li H, Zhang Y, Wang H, Liang J, Zhou Y, Huang Y, Zhai T, Yang Q, Yang M, Ning Y, He H, Wu K, Chen F, Wu F, Zhang X. The Relationship Between Symptoms of Anxiety and Somatic Symptoms in Health Professionals During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2020; 16:3153-3161. [PMID: 33376331 PMCID: PMC7755336 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s282124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed a threat to global health. Increasing studies have shown that the mental health status of health professionals is very poor during the COVID-19 epidemic. At present, the relationship between somatic symptoms and symptoms of anxiety of health professionals during the COVID-19 has not been reported. The purpose of this study was to explore the frequency of somatic symptoms and its related factors in health professionals with symptoms of anxiety during COVID-19 in China. METHODS A total of 606 health professionals were assessed online with the Chinese version of the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale, 7-item Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the somatization subscale of Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90). RESULTS The percentage of symptoms of anxiety, somatic symptoms and insomnia in all health professionals was 45.4%, 12.0%, and 32%, respectively. The frequency of somatic symptoms in health professionals with symptoms of anxiety was 22.9%. The SCL-90 somatization subscale score was significantly positively correlated with history of somatic diseases, GAD-7 score and ISI score in participants with symptoms of anxiety. CONCLUSION During the COVID-19, symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, and somatic symptoms are commonly observed in health professionals. Insomnia and symptoms of anxiety are independently associated with somatic symptoms of health professionals with symptoms of anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hehua Li
- Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Yaping Zhang
- Research Center for Psychological and Health Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.,Affiliated Wuhan Mental Health Center, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Honggang Wang
- Qingdao Mental Health Center, Qingdao University, Qingdao, People's Republic of China
| | - Jing Liang
- Qingdao Mental Health Center, Qingdao University, Qingdao, People's Republic of China
| | - Yongjie Zhou
- Research Center for Psychological and Health Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.,Affiliated Wuhan Mental Health Center, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuanyuan Huang
- Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Tianyi Zhai
- Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiong Yang
- Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Mingzhe Yang
- Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuping Ning
- Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.,The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Hongbo He
- Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Kai Wu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology (scUT), Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Fengjuan Chen
- Department of Medical, Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Fengchun Wu
- Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.,The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.,Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiangyang Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.,CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
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8
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Cox RC, Tuck BM, Olatunji BO. Sleep Disturbance in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Epiphenomenon or Causal Factor? Curr Psychiatry Rep 2017; 19:22. [PMID: 28321643 DOI: 10.1007/s11920-017-0773-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW The goal of this review is to integrate recent findings on sleep disturbance and PTSD, examine sleep disturbance as a causal factor in the development of PTSD, and identify future directions for research, treatment, and prevention. RECENT FINDINGS Recent research highlights a relationship between both objective and subjective sleep disturbance and PTSD across diverse samples. Sleep disturbance also predicts PTSD over time. Finally, treatments targeting sleep disturbance lead to decreased PTSD symptoms, while standard PTSD treatments conclude with residual sleep disturbance. Sleep disturbance may be more than a mere epiphenomenon of PTSD. Future research examining the causal role of sleep disturbance in the development of PTSD, as well as the utility of targeting sleep disturbance in prevention and treatment, is necessary to fully understand the likely bidirectional relationship between sleep disturbance and PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca C Cox
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, 301 Wilson Hall, 111 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA
| | - Breanna M Tuck
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, 301 Wilson Hall, 111 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA
| | - Bunmi O Olatunji
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, 301 Wilson Hall, 111 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA.
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9
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Cox RC, Olatunji BO. A systematic review of sleep disturbance in anxiety and related disorders. J Anxiety Disord 2016; 37:104-29. [PMID: 26745517 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 218] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2015] [Revised: 11/20/2015] [Accepted: 12/01/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Recent research suggests that sleep disturbance may be a transdiagnostic process, and there is increasing interest in examining how sleep disturbance may contribute to anxiety and related disorders. The current review summarizes and synthesizes the extant research assessing sleep in anxiety and related disorders. The findings suggest that sleep disturbance exacerbates symptom severity in the majority of anxiety and related disorders. However, the nature of sleep disturbance often varies as a function of objective versus subjective assessment. Although sleep disturbance is a correlate of most anxiety and related disorders, a causal role for sleep disturbance is less clear. A model of potential mechanisms by which sleep disturbance may confer risk for the development of anxiety and related disorders is discussed. Future research integrating findings from basic sleep research with current knowledge of anxiety and related disorders may facilitate the development of novel treatments for comorbid sleep disturbance and clinical anxiety.
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10
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Pace-Schott EF, Germain A, Milad MR. Sleep and REM sleep disturbance in the pathophysiology of PTSD: the role of extinction memory. BIOLOGY OF MOOD & ANXIETY DISORDERS 2015; 5:3. [PMID: 26034578 PMCID: PMC4450835 DOI: 10.1186/s13587-015-0018-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 137] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2015] [Accepted: 05/12/2015] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is accompanied by disturbed sleep and an impaired ability to learn and remember extinction of conditioned fear. Following a traumatic event, the full spectrum of PTSD symptoms typically requires several months to develop. During this time, sleep disturbances such as insomnia, nightmares, and fragmented rapid eye movement sleep predict later development of PTSD symptoms. Only a minority of individuals exposed to trauma go on to develop PTSD. We hypothesize that sleep disturbance resulting from an acute trauma, or predating the traumatic experience, may contribute to the etiology of PTSD. Because symptoms can worsen over time, we suggest that continued sleep disturbances can also maintain and exacerbate PTSD. Sleep disturbance may result in failure of extinction memory to persist and generalize, and we suggest that this constitutes one, non-exclusive mechanism by which poor sleep contributes to the development and perpetuation of PTSD. Also reviewed are neuroendocrine systems that show abnormalities in PTSD, and in which stress responses and sleep disturbance potentially produce synergistic effects that interfere with extinction learning and memory. Preliminary evidence that insomnia alone can disrupt sleep-dependent emotional processes including consolidation of extinction memory is also discussed. We suggest that optimizing sleep quality following trauma, and even strategically timing sleep to strengthen extinction memories therapeutically instantiated during exposure therapy, may allow sleep itself to be recruited in the treatment of PTSD and other trauma and stress-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward F. Pace-Schott
- />Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital—East, CNY 149 13th Street Room 2624, Charlestown, MA 02129 USA
| | - Anne Germain
- />Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA USA
| | - Mohammed R. Milad
- />Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital—East, CNY 149 13th Street Room 2624, Charlestown, MA 02129 USA
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11
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Pace-Schott EF, Germain A, Milad MR. Effects of sleep on memory for conditioned fear and fear extinction. Psychol Bull 2015; 141:835-57. [PMID: 25894546 DOI: 10.1037/bul0000014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 147] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Learning and memory for extinction of conditioned fear is a basic mammalian mechanism for regulating negative emotion. Sleep promotes both the consolidation of memory and the regulation of emotion. Sleep can influence consolidation and modification of memories associated with both fear and its extinction. After brief overviews of the behavior and neural circuitry associated with fear conditioning, extinction learning, and extinction memory in the rodent and human, interactions of sleep with these processes will be examined. Animal and human studies suggest that sleep can serve to consolidate both fear and extinction memory. In humans, sleep also promotes generalization of extinction memory. Time-of-day effects on extinction learning and generalization are also seen. Rapid eye movement (REM) may be a sleep stage of particular importance for the consolidation of both fear and extinction memory as evidenced by selective REM deprivation experiments. REM sleep is accompanied by selective activation of the same limbic structures implicated in the learning and memory of fear and extinction. Preliminary evidence also suggests extinction learning can take place during slow wave sleep. Study of low-level processes such as conditioning, extinction, and habituation may allow sleep effects on emotional memory to be identified and inform study of sleep's effects on more complex, emotionally salient declarative memories. Anxiety disorders are marked by impairments of both sleep and extinction memory. Improving sleep quality may ameliorate anxiety disorders by strengthening naturally acquired extinction. Strategically timed sleep may be used to enhance treatment of anxiety by strengthening therapeutic extinction learned via exposure therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward F Pace-Schott
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital
| | - Anne Germain
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
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12
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Zhou X, Wu X, An Y, Fu F. Longitudinal relationships between posttraumatic stress symptoms and sleep problems in adolescent survivors following the Wenchuan earthquake in China. PLoS One 2014; 9:e104470. [PMID: 25105288 PMCID: PMC4126730 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2014] [Accepted: 07/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose To examine the longitudinal relationships between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and sleep problems among adolescent survivors in the Wenchuan earthquake, China. Methods 350 adolescent survivors were randomly selected from several primary and secondary schools in the counties of Wenchuan and Maoxian, the two areas most severely affected by the Wenchuan earthquake. Participants completed Revised Child PTSD Symptom Scale and Sleep Problems Subscale of Self-generated Child Behavior Problems Questionnaire at one year (T1), one-and-a-half years (T2), two years (T3) after the earthquake, respectively. Results There was a bidirectional relationship between intrusive symptom clusters of PTSD and sleep problems from T1 to T2, and this relationship became non-significant from T2 to T3. There was a one-way predictive relationship of avoidance symptom clusters of PTSD onto sleep problems from T1 to T3. The hyperarousal symptom clusters of PTSD had effects on sleep problems from T1 to T2 but not from T2 to T3, while sleep problems have no significant effect on hyperarousal symptom clusters of PTSD from T1 to T3. In addition, the relationships between three symptom clusters of PTSD and sleep problems weakened with time change. Conclusions From 1 year to 1.5 years after the earthquake, all the three symptom clusters of PTSD could be important predictive factors for the development and maintenance of sleep problems, while sleep problems could only be risk factors for the intrusive symptom clusters of PTSD. From 1.5 years to 2 years, only the avoidance symptom clusters of PTSD were risk factors for sleep problems, and sleep problems had no significant effects on any symptom clusters of PTSD. Overall, the relationship between PTSD and sleep problems weakened with time change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Zhou
- School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Xinchun Wu
- School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- * E-mail:
| | - Yuanyuan An
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China
| | - Fang Fu
- School of Social Development and Public Policy, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
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13
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Badour CL, Feldner MT, Blumenthal H, Knapp A. Preliminary evidence for a unique role of disgust-based conditioning in posttraumatic stress. J Trauma Stress 2013; 26:280-7. [PMID: 23526662 PMCID: PMC4070374 DOI: 10.1002/jts.21796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Independent lines of evidence have linked posttraumatic stress symptomatology to both peritraumatic disgust (i.e., disgust experienced during a traumatic event) and posttraumatic disgust reactivity in response to traumatic event cues among individuals exposed to traumatic events. Much of this work suggests disgust, defined as a rejection/revulsion response aimed at distancing oneself from a potential source of contamination, may be important in understanding the nature of posttraumatic stress reactions even after accounting for the more frequently studied affective states of fear and anxiety. The current investigation provided a preliminary test of a model of disgust in posttraumatic stress among a sample of 54 community-recruited women with a history sexual victimization. Both peritraumatic disgust (r = .31) and posttraumatic disgust reactivity (r = .42) in response to an idiographic traumatic event script were significantly associated with posttraumatic stress symptom severity. After accounting for variability-associated peritraumatic fear and posttraumatic anxious reactivity, an indirect effect of peritraumatic disgust through posttraumatic disgust reactivity also was found, suggesting that one mechanism through which peritraumatic disgust relates to posttraumatic stress is through its relation with increased posttraumatic disgust reactivity. These findings highlight the importance of further elucidating the nature of disgust in relation to traumatic events and subsequent posttraumatic stress reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christal L Badour
- Department of Psychology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.
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