Incidence of delayed stress disorder among Vietnam era veterans: The effect of priming on response set.

Occurrence of delayed-onset post-traumatic stress disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies

“…It has been shown that the aim and setting of a study may strongly influence the reporting and attribution of subjective symptoms (67) and descriptive studies of PTSD inherently point to the assumed causes. As early as 1983, LaGuardia et al (68) raised concern that studies reporting high rates of post-war delayed-onset stress disorders among Vietnam veterans might reflect the researchers' predisposition towards pathological interpretation and use of questionnaires biased in a direction suggesting maladjustment. In an experimental study of 38 randomly selected veterans, they showed that priming (biasing of the response profile of an individual to favor one direction of responding over another) by a positive, neutral, or negative introductory text, respectively, significantly influenced the subsequent questionnaire responses.…”

“…In an experimental study of 38 randomly selected veterans, they showed that priming (biasing of the response profile of an individual to favor one direction of responding over another) by a positive, neutral, or negative introductory text, respectively, significantly influenced the subsequent questionnaire responses. They concluded that uncontrolled studies of veterans with focus on symptoms and maladjustment were methodologically flawed by selection and expectation bias (68).…”

“Warriors”: Impact of a Powerful Television Drama on the Psychological Health of U.K. Bosnia Peacekeepers

“…There is evidence to support a ''priming effect'' in veterans who may rate themselves in a manner consistent with information given by experimenters or the assumed demands of the experiment (30). In the current study, the information on responses to ''Warriors'' was collected as part of a follow-up study unconnected with the program, and participants were not aware of the interests of the researchers, not least because when the study started neither were the research team.…”

Methodological challenges in assessing general population reactions in the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack

“…It is well known, for example, that even simple alterations in the order of questions within an interview can alter the way in which participants interpret and respond to them (Bowling et al, 1999). Differences in the perceived rationale of a mental health interview as revealed in any introductory preamble or as hinted at by its content can also alter how participants respond to mental health questions (LaGuardia et al, 1983). And perhaps most problematically of all, even the social and political context in which a questionnaire is administered can drastically alter the perceived meaning of the individual questions contained within it: a question asked during a period of calm might be interpreted differently when repeated following a disaster (Bishop, 2005).…”