title: Affective lability predicts decreased habituation in posttraumatic stress symptom responding during a single laboratory session of imaginal exposure.
abstract: Affective lability, or the instability of emotional states, is associated with heightened levels of trauma-related emotional responding and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. However, the impact of affective lability, specifically on habituation to idiographic trauma cues, has yet to be examined among trauma-exposed individuals. The current study examined differential response trajectories to trauma-related imaginal exposure as a function of affective lability. Specifically, 72 women with a history of sexual victimization participated in a laboratory-based study involving a single session of repeated imaginal exposures to idiographic traumatic event cues. As hypothesized, participants higher in affective lability reported less reduction in trauma-cue elicited posttraumatic stress symptoms across exposure trials. Given these results, it will be important to continue to extend these laboratory findings to better understand how elevated affective lability is related to response to trauma-focused exposure therapy among individuals with PTSD or other trauma-related psychopathology (e.g., borderline personality disorder).
authors: Department of Psychological Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States.
authors: Courtney E
authors: CE
authors: Dutton
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States. Electronic address: Christal.badour@uky.edu.
authors: Christal L
authors: CL
authors: Badour
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States.
authors: Alyssa C
authors: AC
authors: Jones
authors: Department of Psychological Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States.
authors: Emily R
authors: ER
authors: Mischel
authors: Department of Psychological Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States; Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, United States.
authors: Matthew T
authors: MT
authors: Feldner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Affective lability; Exposure; Habituation; PTSD; Trauma