Memory of the Traumatic Event is Associated With Increased Risk for PTSD: A Retrospective Study of Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury

ABSTRACT

Studies of the relationship between explicit episodic memory of a traumatic event (MTE) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are inconclusive. The authors examined whether memory for the details of the traumatic event as reported by patients with mild traumatic brain injury was associated with the development of PTSD. In a retrospective study of 120 participants, MTE was found to be associated with an increased risk of PTSD, particularly for the reexperiencing symptom cluster. Although less frequently, PTSD was nonetheless present even in the absence of explicit memory. Possible explanations for mechanisms that enable this phenomenon are considered.

This study was partially funded by the L. Chutick Head Trauma Research Fund, Technion IIT. Preliminary findings from this study were presented at the 17th and 18th annual meetings of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Notes

^a Wilks F = 16.2, p < .001.

^b Based on CAPS scores.

^a Based on CAPS scores.

^b Accounting for the effect of mean CAPS score.

*p < .05;

***p < .001

^a Odds ratios (OR) from a logistic regression model, adjusted for all the variables indicated, with a Goodness of Fit = 83.42, p < 0.001, Nagelkerke R² = 0.42.

***p < 0.001.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yael Caspi

Yael Caspi is a clinical psychologist and a researcher in the Department of Psychiatry, Rambam Medical Center, and an instructor in the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. Research interests include psychological trauma and its impact, cross-cultural psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology.

Sharon Gil

Sharon Gil is a lecturer at the School of Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. Research interests include PTSD and Suicide.

Irit Zilberman Ben-Ari

Irit Zilberman Ben-Ari is head of the Psychiatric Social Work Service in the Department of Psychiatry, Rambam Medical Center, and an instructor in the School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. Research interests include trauma and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Danny Koren

Danny Koren is head of the clinicalpsychology program at the Department of Psychology, University of Haifa and a researcher at the Department of Psychiatry, Rambam Medical Center. Research interests include posttraumatic stress disorder and the neuropsychological basis for competence and decision making capacity.

Judith Aaron-Peretz

Judith Aaron-Peretz is head of the Neurocognitive Clinic, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel. Research interests include the study of high cognitive functions and neurocognitive disorders.

Ehud Klein

Ehud Klein is the chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Rambam Medical Center, and an associate professor in the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. Research interests include posttraumatic stress disorder, transcrannial magnetic stimulaion and the pharmacology of anxiety and affective disorders.