Research suggests that broad classes of psychopathology are organized along orthogonal dimensions termed internalizing and externalizing. Factor analytic work demonstrates that these temperament-based latent factors account for the expression, severity, and comorbidity in major mental disorders. Recent studies have extended this model into the realm of trauma, providing evidence that these dimensions may similarly account for patterns of comorbidity in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This work on the structure of PTSD comorbidity is limited to the study of comorbid Axis I disorders and by largely descriptive analyses. Therefore, the goal of the present cross-sectional study is to use multivariate analytic techniques to more fully examine the internalizing and externalizing structure of PTSD comorbidity in the Axis II domain and to investigate the temperament factors that predict the phenotypic expression of this comorbidity in a sample of 250 men and women with PTSD. Doing so will provide support for a parsimonious, dimensional conceptualization of PTSD comorbidity and extend theory on the structure of mental illness into the realms of trauma and Axis II psychopathology. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
5F31MH074267-02
Application #
7220026
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-F12B-L (20))
Program Officer
Rubio, Mercedes
Project Start
2006-04-01
Project End
2009-03-31
Budget Start
2007-04-01
Budget End
2008-03-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$27,928
Indirect Cost
Name
Boston University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
049435266
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02215
Wolf, Erika J; Harrington, Kelly M; Miller, Mark W (2011) Psychometric properties of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality in a PTSD sample. Psychol Assess 23:911-24
Wolf, Erika J; Miller, Mark W; Brown, Timothy A (2011) The structure of personality disorders in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder. Personal Disord 2:261-78
Wolf, Erika J; Miller, Mark W; Krueger, Robert F et al. (2010) Posttraumatic stress disorder and the genetic structure of comorbidity. J Abnorm Psychol 119:320-30
Miller, Mark W; Wolf, Erika J; Harrington, Kelly M et al. (2010) An evaluation of competing models for the structure of PTSD symptoms using external measures of comorbidity. J Trauma Stress 23:631-8
Wolf, Erika J; Miller, Mark W; McKinney, Ann E (2009) Emotional processing in PTSD: heightened negative emotionality to unpleasant photographic stimuli. J Nerv Ment Dis 197:419-26
Wolf, Erika J; Mori, Deanna L (2009) Avoidant coping as a predictor of mortality in veterans with end-stage renal disease. Health Psychol 28:330-7
Wolf, Erika J; Miller, Mark W; Orazem, Robert J et al. (2008) The MMPI-2 restructured clinical scales in the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder and comorbid disorders. Psychol Assess 20:327-40