People differ in the extent to which they emphasize feelings of activation or deactivation in their verbal reports of experienced emotion, termed arousal focus (AF). Two multimethod studies indicate that AF is linked to heightened interoceptive sensitivity (as measured by performance on a heartbeat detection task). People who were more sensitive to their heartbeats emphasized feelings of activation and deactivation when reporting their experiences of emotion over time more than did those who were less sensitive. This relationship was not accounted for by several other variables, including simple language effects. Implications for the role of interoception in experienced emotion and the validity of self-reported emotion are discussed.Arousal is a basic property of all affective judgments (for a recent review, see Russell & Feldman Barrett, 1999) and is ubiquitous in models of emotion (e.g.,

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Objective: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are early life experiences of abuse and neglect, and observed violence, among others. For military veterans, both ACEs and combat exposure are associated with mental health problems. Method: This study examines the relationship between ACEs and combat exposure on the current mental health in a large sample of recent post-9/11 U.S. veterans. Results: Fifty-nine percent of female and 39% of male veterans reported exposure to 1 ACE, whereas 44% of female and 25% of male veterans were exposed to multiple ACEs. Female veterans were more likely to experience 4 or more ACEs. ACEs were more consistently associated with mental health problems for male veterans than their female peers. For female veterans, exposure to 1 or 2 ACEs did not increase the odds of having any mental health condition, whereas for males, this level of exposure was associated with probable PTSD and anxiety. Combat patrol events were associated with an increase in the likelihood of having a probable mental health problem, with 2 exceptions-combat patrol events were not associated with depression in male veterans and not associated with alcohol misuse in female veterans. Combat was not associated with alcohol misuse. Experiencing a corollary of combat (e.g., accidents, moral injury) was inconsistently associated with the odds of having a probable mental health problem. Conclusions: This study confirms prior studies demonstrating a relationship between ACEs and combat on subsequent mental health problems. Importantly, 2 different types of combat exposure had differential effects on mental health problems. Clinical Impact StatementExposure to combat and to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as abuse and neglect, are both associated with poorer mental health among veterans. Thus, it is critical that clinicians working with veterans take care in gathering background information on these experiences and formulate treatment plans that account for both types of traumatic exposures. There are a number of evidencebased treatments to address both childhood and combat trauma, and these should be used to treat veterans whenever possible.