Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7262090 | Behaviour Research and Therapy | 2016 | 41 Pages |
Abstract
Our goal was to examine the predictive nature of initial psychophysiological (e.g., startle, skin conductance, heart rate) and stress hormone responses (e.g., cortisol) during presentation of VR-based combat-related stimuli on PTSD treatment outcome. Combat veterans with PTSD underwent 6 weeks of VR exposure therapy combined with either d-cycloserine (DCS), alprazolam (ALP), or placebo (PBO). In the DCS group, startle response to VR scenes prior to initiation of treatment accounted for 76% of the variance in CAPS change scores, p < 0.001, in that higher responses predicted greater changes in symptom severity over time. Additionally, baseline cortisol reactivity was inversely associated with treatment response in the ALP group, p = 0.04. We propose that baseline cue-activated physiological measures will be sensitive to predicting patients' level of response to exposure therapy, in particular in the presence of enhancement (e.g., DCS).
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Authors
Seth Davin Norrholm, Tanja Jovanovic, Maryrose Gerardi, Kathryn G. Breazeale, Matthew Price, Michael Davis, Erica Duncan, Kerry J. Ressler, Bekh Bradley, Albert Rizzo, Peter W. Tuerk, Barbara O. Rothbaum,