TY - JOUR
T1 - Posttraumatic stress disorder and partner-specific social cognition
T2 - A pilot study of sex differences in the impact of arginine vasopressin
AU - Marshall, Amy D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by award number K12 HD055882 (Penn State BIRCWH Program) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). This research was also supported by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), components of the National Institutes of Health, through Grant UL1 RR033184. Assays were conducted by the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (UWM), which was made possible in part by grant number P51 RR000167 from the NCRR to the UWM WNPRC and conducted at a facility constructed with support from Research Facilities Improvement Program grant numbers RR15459-01 and RR020141-01. This publication's content is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NICHD, NCRR, NCATS, or NIH.
PY - 2013/5
Y1 - 2013/5
N2 - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with problems in intimate relationships, partly due to deficits in social cognition. In this study, the role of arginine vasopressin (AVP) in the link between PTSD and partner-specific social cognition was examined. Participants were 24 individuals from 12 heterosexual couples in which at least one partner exhibited clinically significant PTSD symptoms. Attention to partner expressions of anger was examined as an indicator of distress and need for affiliative behaviors to repair the relationship bond. AVP administration improved the speed of men's attentional engagement with their partners' expressions of anger and alleviated the negative impact of PTSD on this social cognitive process. Further, men's morning urinary AVP levels were negatively correlated with their PTSD severity. No such effects were found among women or for attention to unfamiliar men's or women's anger expressions. Thus, the AVP system may function in the relationship problems associated with PTSD.
AB - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with problems in intimate relationships, partly due to deficits in social cognition. In this study, the role of arginine vasopressin (AVP) in the link between PTSD and partner-specific social cognition was examined. Participants were 24 individuals from 12 heterosexual couples in which at least one partner exhibited clinically significant PTSD symptoms. Attention to partner expressions of anger was examined as an indicator of distress and need for affiliative behaviors to repair the relationship bond. AVP administration improved the speed of men's attentional engagement with their partners' expressions of anger and alleviated the negative impact of PTSD on this social cognitive process. Further, men's morning urinary AVP levels were negatively correlated with their PTSD severity. No such effects were found among women or for attention to unfamiliar men's or women's anger expressions. Thus, the AVP system may function in the relationship problems associated with PTSD.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.02.014
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.02.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 23470513
AN - SCOPUS:84876339777
SN - 0301-0511
VL - 93
SP - 296
EP - 303
JO - Biological Psychology
JF - Biological Psychology
IS - 2
ER -