Disaster-related posttraumatic stress symptoms and sustained attention: Evaluation of depressive symptomatology and sleep disturbances as mediators
✍ Scribed by Marie-Louise Meewisse; Mirjam J. Nijdam; Giel-Jan de Vries; Berthold P.R. Gersons; Rolf J. Kleber; Peter G. van der Velden; Albert-Jan Roskam; Berdi Christiaanse; Annelieke N. Drogendijk; Miranda Olff
- Book ID
- 102448450
- Publisher
- Springer
- Year
- 2005
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 57 KB
- Volume
- 18
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0894-9867
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Research about attentional functioning following trauma has almost exclusively been performed in patient populations with combat‐related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study the relationship between sustained attention and PTSD symptoms was examined in a community sample of survivors of a major disaster using the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) and the Self‐Rating Scale for PTSD (SRS‐PTSD) 2–3 years postdisaster. Analyses revealed low but significant partial correlations between PTSD symptoms and the least difficult subtests, ruling out the effects of age, education, depressive symptomatology, and sleep disturbances. These results demonstrate that PTSD symptoms link to attentional dysfunction 2–3 years postdisaster.