title: Attention to threats and combat-related posttraumatic stress symptoms: prospective associations and moderation by the serotonin transporter gene.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Combat places soldiers at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The excessive rates of PTSD and other adjustment disorders in soldiers returning home make it imperative to identify risk and resilience factors that could be targeted by novel therapeutic treatments.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the interplay among attention to threat, combat exposure, and other risk factors for PTSD symptoms in soldiers deployed to combat.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal prospective study of Israeli Defense Force infantry soldiers carried out in 2008 through 2010. Repeated measurements during a 1-year period included baseline and predeployment data collected in training camps and deployment data collected in the combat theater.
  
  
  METHODS
  Infantry soldiers (1085 men; mean age, 18.8 years).
  
  
  METHODS
  Postcombat PTSD symptoms. RESULTS Soldiers developed threat vigilance during combat deployment, particularly when they were exposed to high-intensity combat, as indicated by faster response times to targets appearing at the location of threat relative to neutral stimuli (P < .001). Threat-related attention bias also interacted with combat exposure to predict risk for PTSD (P < .05). Bias toward threat at recruitment (P < .001) and bias away from threat just before deployment (P < .05) predicted postcombat PTSD symptoms. Moreover, these threat-related attention associations with PTSD were moderated by genetic and environmental factors, including serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) genotype.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Combat exposure interacts with threat-related attention to place soldiers at risk for PTSD, and interactions with other risk factors account for considerable variance in PTSD vulnerability. Understanding these associations informs research on novel attention bias modification techniques and prevention of PTSD.
authors: School of Psychological Sciences and School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors: Ilan
authors: I
authors: Wald
authors: Kathryn A
authors: KA
authors: Degnan
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: Gorodetsky
authors: Dennis S
authors: DS
authors: Charney
authors: Nathan A
authors: NA
authors: Fox
authors: Eyal
authors: E
authors: Fruchter
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Goldman
authors: Gad
authors: G
authors: Lubin
authors: Daniel S
authors: DS
authors: Pine
authors: Yair
authors: Y
authors: Bar-Haim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D014857:Warfare; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins