Affiliation:
1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences Wayne State University School of Medicine Detroit Michigan
Abstract
AbstractFear‐potentiated startle (FPS) can be used to measure fear and safety learning—behaviors affected by trauma that may map onto posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, FPS could be a candidate biomarker of trauma‐related psychopathology and a potential identifier of trauma‐exposed youth in need of focused treatment. We enrolled n = 71 (35 females, Mage = 12.7 years) Syrian youth exposed to civilian war trauma. Eyeblink electromyogram (EMG) data from a differential conditioning FPS paradigm were obtained 2.5 years after resettlement. Youth provided self‐report of trauma exposure (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire) and PTSD symptoms (UCLA PTSD Reaction Index). While FPS during conditioning was not associated with symptoms, associations with psychopathology emerged in fear extinction. Probable PTSD was associated with FPS in the last block of extinction, such that FPS to threat cue was significantly greater in the PTSD+ group compared to the PTSD– group at the end of extinction (F = 6.25, p = .015). As with adults, we observed a deficit in extinction learning but not fear conditioning in youth with PTSD. These results support the use of trauma‐informed cognitive behavioral therapy based on the learning principles of extinction in youth with PTSD.
Funder
National Institute of Mental Health
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Subject
Behavioral Neuroscience,Developmental Biology,Developmental Neuroscience,Developmental and Educational Psychology
Cited by
3 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献