Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T13:36:52.480Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Investigating predictors of trauma induced data-driven processing and its impact on attention bias and free recall

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2020

John-Paul Corrigan ,
Donncha Hanna  and
Kevin F.W. Dyer
John-Paul Corrigan*
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Regional Trauma Network
Donncha Hanna
Affiliation:
Queens University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Kevin F.W. Dyer
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Regional Trauma Network
*
*Corresponding author. Email: jcorrigan07@qub.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Whilst data-driven processing (DDP) during trauma has been shown to play a role in poor memory integration and is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) re-experiencing symptoms, the pre-trauma risk factors and related cognitive mechanisms are uncertain.

Aims:

This experimental study aimed to investigate predictors of peri-traumatic DDP, as well as its role in attention bias to threat and free recall.

Method:

A virtual reality video was used to simulate an analogue trauma. Questionnaires, a free recall task, and an eye-tracking measure assessed cognitive changes after exposure.

Results:

Regression analysis demonstrated that trait dissociation at pre-exposure to trauma significantly predicted DDP. Attention bias towards threat-related images was found. Results showed that DDP and poorer free recall predicted attention bias to threat images and higher levels of DDP actually predicted higher overall scores in the free recall task.

Conclusions:

This study showed that DDP is strongly linked to dissociative traits, and along with memory disintegration it may predict attention changes after exposure to a trauma.

Keywords

attentional biasmemoryPTSDvirtual reality
Type
Main
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 48 , Issue 6 , November 2020 , pp. 646 - 657
Copyright
© British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramowitz, J. S., Blakey, S. M., Reuman, L., & Buchholz, J. L. (2018). New directions in the cognitive-behavioral treatment of OCD: theory, research, and practice. Behavior Therapy, 49, 311–322.10.1016/j.beth.2017.09.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acheson, D. T., Geyer, M. A., Baker, D. G., Nievergelt, C. M., Yurgil, K., & Risbrough, V.B. (2015). Conditioned fear and extinction learning performance and its association with psychiatric symptoms in active duty Marines. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 51, 495–505.10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.09.030CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beierl, E. T., Böllinghaus, I., Clark, D. M., Glucksman, E., & Ehlers, A. (2019). Cognitive paths from trauma to posttraumatic stress disorder: a prospective study of Ehlers and Clark’s model in survivors of assaults or road traffic collisions. Psychological Medicine, 1–10.10.1017/S0033291719002253CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourne, C., Frasquilho, F., Roth, A. D., & Holmes, E. A. (2010). Is it mere distraction? Peri traumatic verbal tasks can increase analogue flashbacks but reduce voluntary memory performance. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 41, 316–324.10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.03.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradley, M. C., Hanna, D., Wilson, P., Scott, G., Quinn, P., & Dyer, K. F. (2016). Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and attention bias: an eye-tracking methodology. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 50, 303–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewin, C. R., Dalgleish, T., & Joseph, S. (1996). A dual representation theory of posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Review, 103, 670.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brewin, C. R., Ma, B. Y., & Colson, J. (2013). Effects of experimentally induced dissociation on attention and memory. Consciousness and Cognition, 22, 315–323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlson, E. B., & Putnam, F. W. (1993). An update on the dissociative experiences scale. Dissociation: Progress in the dissociative disorders.Google Scholar
Craig, P., Dieppe, P., Macintyre, S., Michie, S., Nazareth, I., & Petticrew, M. (2008). Developing and evaluating complex interventions: the new Medical Research Council guidance. BMJ, 337, a1655.10.1136/bmj.a1655CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ehlers, A. (1998). Data-driven versus conceptual processing questionnaire. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Ehlers, A., & Clark, D. M. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319–345.10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00123-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foa, E. B. (1995). Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS). Minneapolis: National Computer Systems.Google Scholar
Foa, E. B., Cashman, L., Jaycox, L., & Perry, K. (1997). The validation of a self-report measure of posttraumatic stress disorder: the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale. Psychological Assessment, 9, 445.10.1037/1040-3590.9.4.445CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foa, E. B., & Kozak, M. J. (1986). Emotional processing of fear: exposure to corrective information. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 20.10.1037/0033-2909.99.1.20CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fonseca-Pedrero, E., Paino, M., Santarén-Rosell, M., Lemos-Giráldez, S., & Muñiz, J. (2012). Psychometric properties of the Peters et al Delusions Inventory 21 in college students. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 53, 893–899.10.1016/j.comppsych.2012.01.007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frischholz, E. J., Braun, B. G., Sachs, R. G., Schwartz, D. R., Lewis, J., Shaeffer, D., Westergaard, C., & Pasquotto, J. (1992). Construct validity of the Dissociative Experiences Scale: II. Its relationship to hypnotizability. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 35, 145–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grös, D. F., Antony, M. M., Simms, L. J., & McCabe, R. E. (2007). Psychometric properties of the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA): comparison to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Psychological Assessment, 19, 369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halligan, S. L., Michael, T., Clark, D. M., & Ehlers, A. (2003). Posttraumatic stress disorder following assault: the role of cognitive processing, trauma memory, and appraisals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 419.10.1037/0022-006X.71.3.419CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halligan, S. L., Clark, D. M., & Ehlers, A. (2002). Cognitive processing, memory, and the development of PTSD symptoms: two experimental analogue studies. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 33, 73–89.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Imel, Z. E., Laska, K., Jakupcak, M., & Simpson, T. L. (2013). Meta-analysis of dropout in treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81, 394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnsen, G. E., & Asbjørnsen, A. E. (2008). Consistent impaired verbal memory in PTSD: a meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 111, 74–82.10.1016/j.jad.2008.02.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kimble, M. O., Fleming, K., Bandy, C., Kim, J., & Zambetti, A. (2010). Eye tracking and visual attention to threating stimuli in veterans of the Iraq war. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 293–299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kleim, B., Ehring, T., & Ehlers, A. (2012). Perceptual processing advantages for trauma related visual cues in post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychological Medicine, 42, 173–181.10.1017/S0033291711001048CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kleim, B., Wallott, F., & Ehlers, A. (2008). Are trauma memories disjointed from other autobiographical memories in posttraumatic stress disorder? An experimental investigation. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36, 221–234.10.1017/S1352465807004080CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (1997). International affective picture system (IAPS): technical manual and affective ratings. NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, 39–58.Google Scholar
Mayou, R., Bryant, B., & Ehlers, A. (2001). Prediction of psychological outcomes one year after a motor vehicle accident. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 1231–1238.10.1176/appi.ajp.158.8.1231CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Michael, T., & Ehlers, A. (2007). Enhanced perceptual priming for neutral stimuli occurring in a traumatic context: two experimental investigations. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 341–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, J., Ehlers, A., & Mayou, R. A. (2002). Dissociation and post-traumatic stress disorder: two prospective studies of road traffic accident survivors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 180, 363–368.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olatunji, B. O., Armstrong, T., McHugo, M., & Zald, D. H. (2013). Heightened attention capture by threat in veterans with PTSD. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122, 397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ozer, E. J., Best, S. R., Lipsey, T. L., & Weiss, D. S. (2003). Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and symptoms in adults: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Power, M., & Dalgleish, T. (1997). Cognition and Emotion: From Order to Disorder. Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Roediger, H. L. (1990). Implicit memory: retention without remembering. American Psychologist, 45, 1043.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., & Lushene, R. E. (1970). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.Google Scholar
Steiger, F., Nees, F., Wicking, M., Lang, S., & Flor, H. (2015). Behavioral and central correlates of contextual fear learning and contextual modulation of cued fear in posttraumatic stress disorder. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 98, 584–593.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sündermann, O., Hauschildt, M., & Ehlers, A. (2013). Perceptual processing during trauma, priming and the development of intrusive memories. Journal of Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 44, 213–220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thrasher, S., & Dalgleish, T. (1999). The use of information-processing paradigms to investigate post-traumatic stress disorder: a review of the evidence. In, W. Yule (ed), Wiley Series in Clinical Psychology. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders: Concepts and Therapy (pp. 176–192). John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Google Scholar
Thome, J., Hauschild, S., Koppe, G., Liebke, L., Rausch, S., Herzog, J. I, Müller Engelmann, M., Steil, R., Priebe, K., Hermans, D., & Schmahl, C. (2017). Generalisation of fear in PTSD related to prolonged childhood maltreatment: an experimental study. Psychological Medicine, 1–12.Google Scholar
Wegner, D. M., Quillian, F., & Houston, C. E. (1996). Memories out of order: thought suppression and the disturbance of sequence memory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zingrone, N. L., & Alvarado, C. S. (2001). The Dissociative Experiences Scale-II: descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and frequency of experiences. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 21, 145–157.10.2190/K48D-XAW3-B2KC-UBB7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.