Clinical theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest that trauma memories are disorganized. In the present study, we examined how trauma-film exposure affects two aspects of memory disorganization, poor memory recall and memory disjointedness, and their relationship to PTSD-like symptoms. In Session 1, 90 healthy participants were exposed to a trauma ( n = 60) or a neutral film ( n = 30). Cognitive processing styles, memory characteristics, and intrusive memories of the film were assessed. The trauma-film group reported greater memory disjointedness of the worst moments of the film but better memory recall of the film than the neutral-film group. In the trauma-film group, cognitive processing and memory disjointedness were related to intrusive memories and PTSD-like symptoms in the week after film exposure. Memory disjointedness but not poor memory recall mediated the relationship between cognitive processing and intrusions. The findings suggest that different aspects of memory disorganization need to be distinguished to explain PTSD symptoms.

Background: Pre-sleep cognitive activity and arousal have long been implicated in the maintenance of insomnia. However, despite high comorbidity between insomnia and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), pre-sleep thoughts in PTSD and their associations with disturbed sleep, have not yet been investigated. Objective: This study presents the development and preliminary validation of a brief selfreport measure of the content of trauma-related pre-sleep thoughts: the Trauma Thoughts before Sleep Inventory (TTSI). Methods: Participants (N = 285) were recruited online into five groups: three groups with clinical symptoms, 1) PTSD; 2) depression without PTSD; 3) insomnia without depression or PTSD; and two healthy control groups 4) nontrauma-exposed controls; 5) trauma-exposed controls. The questionnaire was administered at baseline, and for a subsample (n = 157) again one week later to assess test-retest reliability. At baseline, participants also completed questionnaires of sleep quality, PTSD and depression symptoms, and insomnia-related thoughts. Results: The TTSI had good reliability and validity; it discriminated participants with PTSD from those with depression and insomnia, those with depression from insomnia, and correlated with existing measures of pre-sleep thoughts, self-reported pre-sleep arousal and poor sleep. Conclusions: The results support the utility of the TTSI for measuring thoughts that keep people with PTSD awake, although replication in an independent clinical sample is required. Rumiación nocturna en el trastorno de estrés postraumático: desarrollo y validación de una escala breve Antecedentes: La actividad cognitiva y la excitación previa al sueño han estado implicadas durante mucho tiempo en el mantenimiento del insomnio. Sin embargo, a pesar de la alta comorbilidad entre el insomnio y el trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT), los pensamientos previos al sueño en el trastorno de estrés postraumático y sus asociaciones con trastornos del sueño, aún no se han investigado. Objetivo: Este estudio presenta el desarrollo y la validación preliminar de una escala breve de autoreporte del contenido de los pensamientos previos al sueño relacionados con el trauma: El Inventario de Pensamientos Traumáticos Previos al Sueño (IPTPS). Métodos: Los participantes (N = 285) fueron reclutados en línea y se dividieron en cinco grupos: tres grupos con síntomas clínicos, 1) TEPT; 2) depresión sin TEPT; 3) insomnio sin depresión o TEPT; y dos grupos de control sanos 4) controles no expuestos a traumas; 5) Controles expuestos al trauma. El cuestionario se administró al inicio del estudio y para una submuestra (n = 157) nuevamente una semana después, para evaluar la confiabilidad testretest. Al inicio, los participantes también completaron cuestionarios de calidad del sueño, trastorno de estrés postraumático y depresión, y pensamientos relacionados con el insomnio. Resultados: El IPTPS tuvo buena confiabilidad y validez; discriminó a los participantes con TEPT de aquellos con depresión e insomnio, aquellos con dep...

Cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest that negative appraisals play an important role in the development and maintenance of PTSD. It has not yet been examined experimentally how people with PTSD appraise strangers. Twenty-two trauma survivors with PTSD and 26 non-traumatised controls completed a person impression updating task. There was no group difference in initial kindness ratings of people shown in the photos. The PTSD group changed their ratings more when receiving negative compared to positive information about the person, relative to controls. When incongruent information was subsequently presented, the PTSD group tended to be more influenced by negative information than positive information, relative to congruent information, than controls. The findings suggest selective attention to negative information about others in PTSD. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10608-018-9962-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

No abstract