Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T04:25:49.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Post-traumatic amnesia and the nature of post-traumatic stress disorder after mild traumatic brain injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2009

RICHARD A. BRYANT*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
MARK CREAMER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
MEAGHAN O’DONNELL
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
DERRICK SILOVE
Affiliation:
School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
C. RICHARD CLARK
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
ALEXANDER C. MCFARLANE
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Richard A. Bryant, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, New South Wales 2052, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

The prevalence and nature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) is controversial because of the apparent paradox of suffering PTSD with impaired memory for the traumatic event. In this study, 1167 survivors of traumatic injury (MTBI: 459, No TBI: 708) were assessed for PTSD symptoms and post-traumatic amnesia during hospitalization, and were subsequently assessed for PTSD 3 months later (N = 920). At the follow-up assessment, 90 (9.4%) patients met criteria for PTSD (MTBI: 50, 11.8%; No-TBI: 40, 7.5%); MTBI patients were more likely to develop PTSD than no-TBI patients, after controlling for injury severity (adjusted odds ratio: 1.86; 95% confidence interval, 1.78–2.94). Longer post-traumatic amnesia was associated with less severe intrusive memories at the acute assessment. These findings indicate that PTSD may be more likely following MTBI, however, longer post-traumatic amnesia appears to be protective against selected re-experiencing symptoms. (JINS, 2009, 15, 862–867.)

Type
Symposia
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (1990). The Abbreviated Injury Scale 1990 Revision. Des Plaines, IL:Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine.Google Scholar
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (1993). Definition of mild traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 8, 8687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aziz, M., & Kenford, S. (2004). Comparability of telephone and face-to-face interviews in assessing patients with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Practice, 10, 307313.Google Scholar
Blake, D.D., Weathers, F.W., Nagy, L.M., Kaloupek, D.G., Charney, D.S., & Keane, T.M. (1998). Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-IV. Boston: National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Google Scholar
Bryant, R.A. (2001a). Posttraumatic stress disorder and mild brain injury: Controversies, causes and consequences. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 23, 718728.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryant, R.A. (2001b). Posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury: Can they co-exist? Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 931948.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryant, R.A. (2008). Disentangling mild traumatic brain injury and stress reactions. New England Journal of Medicine, 358, 525527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryant, R.A., & Guthrie, R.M. (2007). Maladaptive self-appraisals before trauma exposure predict posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75, 812815.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryant, R.A., & Harvey, A.G. (1998a). Relationship between acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder following mild traumatic brain injury. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 625629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryant, R.A., & Harvey, A.G. (1998b). Traumatic memories and pseudomemories in posttraumatic stress disorder. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 12, 8188.3.0.CO;2-8>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryant, R.A., Moulds, M., Guthrie, R., & Nixon, R.D. (2003). Treating acute stress disorder following mild traumatic brain injury. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 585587.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castro, C.A., & Gaylord, K.M. (2008). Incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury in burned service members: Preliminary report – Discussion. Journal of Trauma-Injury Infection and Critical Care, 64(2), S205S206.Google Scholar
Charney, D.S., Southwick, S.M., Krystal, J.H., Deutch, A.Y., Murburg, M.M., & Davis, M. (1993). Psychobiologic mechanisms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 294305.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conway, M.A., & Pleydell-Pearce, C.W. (2000). The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system. Psychological Review, 107(2), 261288.Google Scholar
Dunmore, E., Clark, D.M., & Ehlers, A. (1997). Cognitive factors in persistent versus recovered post-traumatic stress disorder after physical or sexual assault: A pilot study. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 25, 147159.Google Scholar
Dunmore, E., Clark, D.M., & Ehlers, A. (2001). A prospective investigation of the role of cognitive factors in persistent Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after physical or sexual assault. Behaviour Research & Therapy, 39, 10631084.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ehlers, A., & Clark, D.M. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research & Therapy, 38, 319345.Google Scholar
Forrester, G., Encel, J., & Geffen, A. (1994). Measuring post-traumatic amnesia (PTA): A historical review. Brain Injury, 8, 175184.Google Scholar
Gil, S., Caspi, Y., Ben-Ari, I.Z., Koren, D., & Klein, E. (2005). Does memory of a traumatic event increase the risk for posttraumatic stress disorder in patients with traumatic brain injury? A prospective study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 963969.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenspan, A.I., Stringer, A.Y., Phillips, V.L., Hammond, F.M., & Goldstein, F.C. (2006). Symptoms of post-traumatic stress: Intrusion and avoidance 6 and 12 months after TBI. Brain Injury, 20, 733742.Google Scholar
Gronwall, D., & Wrightson, P. (1980). Duration of post-trauma amnesia after mild head injury. Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology, 2, 5160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, A.G., & Bryant, R.A. (2000). Two-year prospective evaluation of the relationship between acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder following mild traumatic brain injury. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 626628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harvey, A.G., & Bryant, R.A. (2001). Reconstructing trauma memories: A prospective study of ”amnesic” trauma survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 14, 277282.Google Scholar
Hoge, C.W., McGurk, D., Thomas, J.L., Cox, A.L., Engel, C.C., & Castro, C.A. (2008). Mild traumatic brain injury in U.S. Soldiers returning from Iraq. New England Journal of Medicine, 358, 453463.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landre, N., Poppe, C.J., Davis, N., Schmaus, B., & Hobbs, S.E. (2006). Cognitive functioning and postconcussive symptoms in trauma patients with and without mild TBI. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 21, 255273.Google Scholar
Lanius, R.A., Bluhm, R., Lanius, U., & Pain, C. (2006). A review of neuroimaging studies in PTSD: Heterogeneity of response to symptom provocation. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 40, 709729.Google Scholar
Levin, H.S., Brown, S.A., Song, J.X., McCauley, S.R., Boake, C., Contant, C.F., Goodman, H., & Kotria, K.J. (2001). Depression and posttraumatic stress disorder at three months after mild to moderate traumatic brain injury. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 23, 754769.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lovibond, P.F., & Shanks, D.R. (2002). The role of awareness in Pavlovian conditioning: Empirical evidence and theoretical implications. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal and Behavioral Processes, 28, 326.Google Scholar
Moore, E.L., Terryberry-Spohr, L., & Hope, D.A. (2006). Mild traumatic brain injury and anxiety sequelae: A review of the literature. Brain Injury, 20, 117132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O’Donnell, M.L., Creamer, M., Bryant, R.A., Schnyder, U., & Shalev, A. (2003). Posttraumatic disorders following injury: An empirical and methodological review. Clinical Psychological Review, 23, 587603.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pitman, R.K. (1988). Post-traumatic stress disorder, conditioning, and network theory. Psychiatric Annals, 18, 182189.Google Scholar
Rauch, S.L., & Shin, L.M. (1997). Functional neuroimaging studies in posttraumatic stress disorder. Annals of the the New York Academy of Sciences, 821, 8398.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sbordone, R.J., & Liter, J.C. (1995). Mild traumatic brain injury does not produce post-traumatic stress disorder. Brain Injury, 9, 405412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneiderman, A.I., Braver, E.R., & Kang, H.K. (2008). Understanding sequelae of injury mechanisms and mild traumatic brain injury incurred during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan: Persistent postconcussive symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder. American Journal of Epidemiology, 167, 14461452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Southwick, S.M., Morgan, A., Nicolaou, A.L., & Charney, D.S. (1997). Consistency of memory for combat-related traumatic events in veterans of Operation Desert Storm. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 173177.Google Scholar
Williams, D.H., Levin, H.S., & Eisenberg, H.M. (1990). Mild head injury classification. Neurosurgery, 27, 422428.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed