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Recent Submissions
Oceania: Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands
(ABC- CLIO, LLC, 2023) Howard, Elise; Baker, Kerryn; Palmieri, Sonia; Och, Malliga
Predictors of alcohol and substance use among people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): findings from the NESARC-III study
(Dr Dietrich Steinkopff Verlag, 2023) Dell�Aquila, Adriana; Berle, David
Purpose
The self-medication hypothesis suggests people may develop Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) or Non-Alcohol Substance Use Disorder (NA-SUD) following PTSD as a maladaptive way of coping with PTSD symptoms. Given that an accumulation of trauma experiences and interpersonal trauma increase the likelihood and severity of PTSD, we sought to determine whether the number and type of traumas additionally predict AUD and NA-SUD following PTSD.
Methods
We analysed data from 36,309 adult participants in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III) study (M = 45.63 years, SD = 17.53, 56.3% female) who were administered semi-structured diagnostic interviews of trauma exposure and PTSD, AUD and NA-SUD symptoms.
Results
Individuals with PTSD were more likely to have an AUD or NA-SUD than those without PTSD. Endorsement of a greater number of traumas was associated with greater odds of having PTSD, AUD, or NA-SUD. Experience of interpersonal trauma was related to greater odds of having PTSD and subsequent AUD or NA-SUD than not experiencing interpersonal trauma. Multiple experiences of interpersonal trauma compared to one interpersonal trauma exposure also increased the odds of having PTSD followed by AUD or NA-SUD.
Conclusions
Interpersonal trauma and multiple experiences of interpersonal trauma may result in individuals turning to alcohol and substances as a way to alleviate intolerable PTSD symptomology, aligning with the self-medication hypothesis. Our findings highlight the importance of ensuring services and support for interpersonal trauma survivors and for those who have experienced multiple traumas given their increased for unfavourable outcomes.
Problematic online behaviors and psychopathology in Australia
(Elsevier, 2023) Starcevic, Vladan; D.Eslick, Guy; Viswasam, Kirupamani; Billieux, Joel; Gainsbury, Sally M; King, Daniel; Berle, David
This study aimed to ascertain frequency rates and predictors of six problematic online behaviors (POBs) in an Australian sample. Participants (N = 1626) completed instruments measuring problematic online gaming, cyberchondria, problematic cybersex, problematic online shopping, problematic use of social networking sites, problematic online gambling, anxiety, depression and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Each POB was presumed to be present based on the cut-off score on the corresponding instrument and at least one indicator of interference with functioning. Generalized linear model analyses were used to determine socio-demographic and psychopathological predictors of each POB. The most common POB was problematic online shopping (12.2%), followed by problematic online gambling (11.4%), problematic use of social networking sites (6.0%), problematic cybersex (5.3%), problematic online gaming (5.2%) and cyberchondria (4.6%). Age group 27–36 had the highest rates of POBs. The intensity of ADHD symptoms predicted all POBs, whereas younger age predicted all POBs except for problematic cybersex and online gambling. Female gender predicted lower scores on the measures of problematic online gaming and cybersex. These findings have implications for age- and gender-adapted education, prevention and treatment efforts and suggest that specific POBs should be investigated separately instead of lumping them together under the umbrella terms such as “Internet addiction”.
Inner core anisotropy from antipodal PKIKP traveltimes
(Wiley - V C H Verlag GmbbH & Co., 2023) Tkalcic, Hrvoje; Costa de Lima, Thuany; Pham, Thanh Son; Tanaka, Satoru; Nakagawa, Takashi; Tsuchiya, Taku; Satish-Kumar, Madhusoodhan; Helffrich, George
The Earth's inner core (IC) and the innermost inner core (IMIC) are not merely subjects of academic curiosity, but they likely hold crucial information about the Earth's evolution and its geomagnetic field. In particular, the IMIC might contain a frozen anisotropic fabric different from the outer inner core (OIC). Seismological studies have probed IMIC to investigate its anisotropy – the directional dependence in seismic velocities – and reached different conclusions. Differing inferences are due to the scarcity of the seismological data sensitive to the deepest Earth's volumes and because outer layers of the Earth obscure the access to the IC by affecting the traveltime predictions and measurements. To contribute to the current efforts, we collect a global dataset of 1,150 antipodal PKIKP traveltimes for source-receiver epicentral distances between 165° and 180° sensitive to IMIC. The hand-picking of PKIKP absolute traveltimes at multiple band-pass filters is assisted by collecting P-wave records at the receivers with a similar azimuthal range. Along with relying on state-of-the-art seismological catalogs, tomographic mantle models, and OIC anisotropy models, this serves the purpose of eliminating the influences of outer layers on PKIKP traveltimes. Our new dataset is augmented by the Thai Seismic Array (TSAR) waveform data, antipodal to many South American events, and the Brazilian Seismographic Network (RSBR), antipodal to the events from Southeast Asia. The volumetric sampling with the bottoming depths between 75 and 560 km from the Earth's center provides new constraints on IMIC anisotropy and bulk IC. Both IC bulk anisotropy and the IC containing IMIC models, with the fast axis aligned with the Earth's rotation axis (ERA), the slow direction at ∼60° from the ERA, and an anisotropic strength in the range 3.2–5.0 ± 0.2% explain our new PKIKP dataset.
The phenomenology of nightmares in post-traumatic stress disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder
(Elsevier Masson, 2023) Simos, Alyssia; Berle, David
Introduction
Nightmares are a re-experiencing symptom of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD (CPTSD). They are intrusive, involuntary and have a significant impact on wellbeing, suggesting they have substantial clinical relevance. However, little is known about the phenomenological features of post-traumatic nightmares and how they are associated with the severity of PTSD and CPTSD symptoms.
Method
Participants (N = 398) who identified that they had experienced a lifetime trauma completed various self-report questionnaires related to PTSD symptoms, CPTSD symptoms and nightmare characteristics. Participants also described their sensory experiences and rated the emotional intensity and vividness of their post-traumatic nightmares.
Results
We found that elevated scores on various characteristics of nightmares including frequency of awakenings, nightmare severity, impact on wellbeing and the perceived realism of the nightmare were linked to more severe PTSD and CPTSD symptoms. Further, increased frequency, vividness, and emotional intensity of nightmares significantly predicted more severe PTSD symptoms but not CPTSD symptoms.
Conclusions
Our study was largely exploratory and was the first to identify that specific nightmare features are related to PTSD and CPTSD symptom severity. However, although nightmare features of frequency, vividness and intensity appear to be related to CPTSD symptom severity, other variables may better predict CPTSD symptoms. Possible explanations for our findings, implications for treatment and directions for future research are discussed.