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Effects of oral contraceptives on intrusive memories: a secondary analysis of two studies using the trauma film paradigm in healthy women.

ABSTRACT: Background: Women are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than men. Recent research suggests an impact of oral contraceptive (OC) intake on PTSD and intrusive memories, a hallmark symptom of PTSD. Although a majority of women use OCs at some point in their lives, the effects on PTSD pathogenesis are only poorly understood.Objective: In the current paper, we aimed to investigate the impact of OC intake on the acquisition and consolidation of intrusive memories in healthy women after watching a trauma film paradigm.Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of a pooled dataset (N = 437) of two previously conducted and published studies investigating the effect of oxytocin on the development of intrusive memories.Results: Women taking OCs showed an attenuated decline of intrusive memories over time after having watched the trauma film compared to naturally cycling women (F(2.75, 1167) = 3.79, p = .03, ηp2 = .01).Conclusion: These findings indicate that the intake of OCs is associated with the development of intrusive memories after a trauma film paradigm. This indication emphasizes the need to further investigate the complex impact of OCs and gonadal hormones on fear learning processes and PTSD.

SUBMITTER: Maslahati T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10990444 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effects of oral contraceptives on intrusive memories: a secondary analysis of two studies using the trauma film paradigm in healthy women.

Maslahati Tolou T Schultebraucks Katharina K Galve Gómez Milagros M Hellmann-Regen Julian J Otte Christian C Wingenfeld Katja K Roepke Stefan S

European journal of psychotraumatology 20231201 2

<b>Background:</b> Women are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than men. Recent research suggests an impact of oral contraceptive (OC) intake on PTSD and intrusive memories, a hallmark symptom of PTSD. Although a majority of women use OCs at some point in their lives, the effects on PTSD pathogenesis are only poorly understood.<b>Objective:</b> In the current paper, we aimed to investigate the impact of OC intake on the acquisition and consolidation of intrusive memori ...[more]

PMID: 38039055

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Project description:IntroductionIntrusive memories occur frequently after potentially traumatic events and form a core symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) if they persist. The translational approach of visuospatial interventions tries to target those intrusive memories in order to reduce their frequency predominantly using an intervention including as one component the computer game Tetris. Despite promising results, the application of Tetris has critical drawbacks, e.g., potential commercial or copyright issues. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether it is this specific game or, as predicted by theory, a visuospatial task per se that leads to the effect. This study hence aims to compare the effect of Tetris with an alternative, bespoke visuospatial task: Mobilum developed for the current purpose.MethodsN = 120 healthy participants watched a trauma film and recorded their intrusive memories in a diary for 6 days. Three days after watching the film, they were randomized to 3 groups and after memory reactivation cue received either Tetris or Mobilum or Control (no task). Prior to intervention 8 participants reported zero intrusive memories to the film and were excluded from further analyses, therefore 112 participants were included in the analysis.ResultsA mixed Poisson regression model revealed that the Mobilum group had significantly less frequent intrusive memories after the intervention compared to the control condition (approximately 43%, p = 0.0013). There was no significant difference for the Tetris group compared to Control (17% less frequent, p = 0.3798).DiscussionOur results suggest that visuospatial tasks other than Tetris-in this case, Mobilum-can also lead to a reduction in intrusive memories when administered 3 days after a trauma film. This strengthens the assumption that it is not specifically the game Tetris, but rather the visuospatial nature of the task, that is responsible for the reduction. Aspects of further investigating the potential of Mobilum as well as clinical implications are discussed.

Dataset Information

Effects of oral contraceptives on intrusive memories: a secondary analysis of two studies using the trauma film paradigm in healthy women.

Publications

Effects of oral contraceptives on intrusive memories: a secondary analysis of two studies using the trauma film paradigm in healthy women.

Similar Datasets

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