title: Associations Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Emotion Dysregulation, and Alcohol Dependence Symptoms Among Inner City Females.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how emotion dysregulation (ED) might help explain the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence (AD) symptoms in females.
  
  
  
  Participants included 260 women from primary, diabetes, and gynecological clinics of an urban public hospital. This is a primarily African American sample (96.9%), including individuals reporting exposure to at least 1 traumatic event. We examined the associations and predictability patterns between severity of PTSD symptoms, ED, and AD symptoms.
  
  
  
  Using linear regression analyses, PTSD avoidance and numbing symptoms and ED were significant predictors of AD symptoms. When looking at specific dimensions of ED, one's inability to engage in goal-directed behavior under strong emotional influences showed a full indirect effect on the relationship between PTSD avoidance and numbing symptoms and AD symptoms.
  
  
  
  Our findings suggest that having poor emotion regulation skills may help explain why females with PTSD become dependent on alcohol.
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Brittany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine.|Atlanta VA Medical Center.
authors.forename: Bekh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Kerry J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Ressler
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Powers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D000068356:Self-Control; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: PTSD; alcohol dependence; emotion dysregulation; traumatized population; women