Sharon B. Zeitlin

Cognitive processing of trauma cues in rape victims with post-traumatic stress disorder

Rape victims with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (n =12), rape victims without PTSD (n =12), and nontraumatized control subjects (n =12) performed a computerized Stroop color-naming task in which they named the colors of high-threat words (e.g., RAPE), moderate-threat words (e.g., CRIME), positive words (e.g., LOYAL), and neutral words (e.g., TYPICAL). In contrast to rape victims without PTSD and to nontraumatized control subjects, those with PTSD were slower to color-name high-threat words than moderate-threat, positive, and neutral words. Rape victims without PTSD nevertheless exhibited greater Stroop interference for high-threat words than did nontraumatized subjects. Interference for high-threat words was correlated with scores on the Impact of Events Scale —Intrusion subscale, but not with scores on the Avoidance subscale. These findings suggest that interference for trauma cues may provide a nonintrospective index of intrusive cognitive activity.

Anxiety sensitivity and alcohol use motives

Abstract The present study was designed to examine the relationship between anxiety sensitivity (AS; fear of anxiety symptoms) and alcohol use motives. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait Subscale (STAI-T), and the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ) were administered to 314 university students. Higher ASI scores were found to be significantly associated with greater scores on the Coping Motives (CM) subscale of the DMQ, particularly in the female subjects. In contrast, ASI scores were not found to be related in a linear fashion to scores on either the Enhancement Motives (EM) or Social Motives (SM) subscales of the DMQ. A regression equation involving a weighted linear combination of scores on the ASI and STAI-T significantly predicted scores on the CM subscale of the DMQ; the regression equation was significantly better at predicting the frequency of coping-related drinking in women than men. When “primary” motives were examined, a significantly greater percentage of high than low AS subjects (particularly high AS women) were found to drink primarily for coping-related motives, and a significantly greater percentage of low than high AS subjects were found to drink primarily for social-affiliative motives. This pattern of drinking motives points to potential difficulties with alcohol in individuals (particularly women) who are high in both AS and trait anxiety, since drinking primarily for CM as opposed to SM has previously been shown to be associated with more drinking alone, heavier alcohol consumption, and more severe alcohol-related problems.

Examination of a three-dimensional drinking motives questionnaire in a young adult university student sample.

The literature on drinking motives suggests that individuals drink for three distinct reasons: coping motives (CM: to reduce and/or avoid negative emotional states); social motives (SM: to affiliate with others); and enhancement motives (EM: to facilitate positive emotions). Cooper, Russell, Skinner and Windle (1992) [Psychological Assessment, 4, 123-132] developed a 3-dimensional self-report instrument, the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ), with subscales designed to assess relative frequency of drinking for each of these three motives. This study was designed to examine the psychometric properties of the DMQ in a large sample of young adult university students. Three hundred and fourteen students voluntarily served as subjects; 266 students (85% of the total sample; 196F and 70M) reported drinking on the DMQ. These students were divided into two age groups [20 yr and under (n = 117); 21 yr and older (n = 149)]. Analyses of variance indicated: (a) main effects of gender, with men scoring significantly higher on the DMQ-EM subscale and tending to score higher on the DMQ-SM subscale when compared to women; (b) a main effect of age group on the DMQ-EM subscale, with younger students scoring significantly higher than older students; and (c) a significant main effect of drinking motive, with the most relatively frequent drinking reported for SM and the least for CM overall. Although mild-to-moderate shared variance between subscales was noted, the three subscales of the DMQ were found to possess adequate-to-high levels of internal consistency. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that the hypothesized 3-factor model provided a better fit than either a unidimensional or 2-factor model in explaining the underlying structure of the DMQ. Some suggestions for improvements in DMQ item content are made. The present results replicate and extend previous findings by Cooper and colleagues to a sample of university students, and support the utility of using the DMQ in future investigations of the drinking motives of young adults.

Implicit and explicit memory for catastrophic associations to bodily sensation words in panic disorder

This study investigated explicit (cued recall) and implicit memory (word completion) memory bias for catastrophic associations among individuals with panic disorder (n=24), clinician controls (n=24), and normal controls (n=24). Compared to both control groups, the panic disorder group showed biased explicit and implicit memory for catastrophic associations to bodily sensation words (e.g., palpitation-coronary) compared to positive (e.g., smiles-elation) and neutral (e.g., groceries-coupons) word pairs of equal relatedness. These results support cognitive formulations of panic disorder which suggest that individuals with panic disorder have biased memory for

Coprophagia as a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A case report

Coprophagia is seen, though uncommonly, in psychiatric hospitals among adult patients with diffuse brain disease and in individuals with subaverage intelligence. We describe here a case of coprophagia in an adult with normal cognitive functioning. Thorough assessment revealed that this coprophagia was a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The problem behavior responded to a behavioral treatment program comprising exposure and response prevention.

Selective processing of epilepsy-related cues in patients with high fear of seizures

Abstract A modified Stroop color-naming paradigm was used to investigate attentional bias for selectively processing threatening information in patients with epilepsy. Epilepsy patients with high fear of seizures (HF, n=12) and epilepsy patients with low fear of seizures (LF, n=12) named the ink colors in which control stimuli (e.g., 00000), neutral words (e.g., concrete), positive words (e.g., happy), general medical words (e.g., doctor), and epilepsy words (e.g., seizure) were printed. Results showed that HF patients responded differentially to the stimuli whereas LF patients did not. Specifically, HF patients exhibited greater Stroop interference for epilepsy words than for general medical words, positive words, neutral words, and control stimuli. Results were independent of demographic and clinical seizure variables. These findings provide behavioral validation of the fear of seizure construct. Moreover, this attentional bias for epilepsy-related information may contribute to the psychiatric and psychosocial difficulties among some individuals with epilepsy.