Sacrificing reward to avoid threat: Characterizing PTSD in the context of a trauma-related approach-avoidance conflict task.

ABSTRACT: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by heightened avoidance, cognitive inflexibility, and impaired reward processing. Maladaptive behavior in PTSD may reflect an imbalance between approach and avoidance, but no research has investigated approach-avoidance conflict (AAC) in PTSD. The current study investigated approach-avoidance behavior in PTSD using a trauma-related AAC (trAAC) task in two independent samples. In Study 1, 43 women with a current diagnosis of PTSD and 18 healthy comparison subjects were recruited from the community. In Study 2, 53 women with trauma exposure and a range of PTSD symptoms were recruited from a correctional institution. Trials were separated into two phases: conflict (the option most likely to win points was most likely to show a trauma-relat

SUBMITTER: Weaver SS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7393639 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature