Pino Olimpia, Rossi Maurizio, Malvezzi Matteo Charles
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Via Volturno, 39, 43125 Parma, PR, Italy.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Dec 13;14(12):1195. doi: 10.3390/bs14121195.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a highly prevalent disorder and a highly debilitating condition. Although current theories focused on depressed mood and intrusion as critical dimensions, the mechanism through which depression increases the risk of PTSD remains unclear. Research usually concentrates on the hyperactive negative valence system (NVS) (e.g., increased fear and threat responses), but some evidence suggests a significant role for the hypoactive positive valence system (PVS) (e.g., less neural activation towards rewards).
The main aim of the present research was to investigate whether probable PTSD leads to a different evaluation of the implicit processing in a refugee's sample. Ratings of arousal, dominance, and valence from 60 International Affective Picture System (IAPS) pictures (positive, neutral, and negative) were collected from 42 individuals with probable PTSD, and a group of 26 trauma-exposed individuals (M = 28.49 years, SD = ±7.78).
ANOVA results revealed a main group effect (η2p = 0.379) on arousal, dominance, valence dimensions, and pictures' categories (η2p = 0.620), confirming evidence according to which PTSD origins a state of maladaptive hyperarousal and troubles the regulation of emotions, and not supporting the view that such difficulties arise only with negative stimuli. Participants with probable PTSD deemed negative stimuli as more threatening than they really are, reacting to unpleasant images with greater negative emotionality (i.e., enhanced arousal and lower valence ratings) compared with individuals without PTSD. Moreover, they rated positive stimuli as less pleasant. Furthermore, arousal ratings were negatively correlated with valence (r = -0.709, < 0.01) indicating that pictures with high arousal (negative) were associated with lower valence.
Our findings supported evidence according to which PTSD caused a constant state of hyperarousal and difficulties in regulating emotions facing environmental stimuli. Positive stimuli are considered less pleasant, and this inhibits from completely benefiting from them.
Our study provides evidence for a differential and potentially complementary involvement of NVS and PVS in PTSD development. Intervention for PTSD may, thus, target both negative and positive valence processing.
创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）是一种高度普遍且使人极度衰弱的疾病。尽管当前理论将抑郁情绪和侵入症状视为关键维度，但抑郁增加PTSD风险的机制仍不清楚。研究通常集中在过度活跃的负性效价系统（NVS）（例如，恐惧和威胁反应增加），但一些证据表明低活跃的正性效价系统（PVS）（例如，对奖励的神经激活较少）也起重要作用。
本研究的主要目的是调查可能患有PTSD的情况是否会导致对难民样本中内隐加工的不同评估。从42名可能患有PTSD的个体以及一组26名有过创伤经历的个体（M = 28.49岁，SD = ±7.78）中收集了对60张国际情绪图片系统（IAPS）图片（正性、中性和负性）的唤醒度、支配度和效价评分。
方差分析结果显示，在唤醒度、支配度、效价维度以及图片类别方面存在主要的组间效应（η2p = 0.379），证实了PTSD会引发适应不良的过度唤醒状态并扰乱情绪调节的证据，并不支持那种认为此类困难仅在面对负性刺激时才会出现的观点。与未患PTSD的个体相比，可能患有PTSD的参与者认为负性刺激比实际情况更具威胁性，对不愉快图像的反应具有更强的负性情绪（即，增强的唤醒度和更低的效价评分）。此外，他们对正性刺激的愉悦度评价较低。此外，唤醒度评分与效价呈负相关（r = -0.709，< 0.01），表明高唤醒度（负性）的图片与较低的效价相关。
我们的研究结果支持了PTSD会导致持续的过度唤醒状态以及在面对环境刺激时难以调节情绪的证据。正性刺激被认为不那么令人愉悦，这使得无法完全从中受益。
我们的研究为NVS和PVS在PTSD发展中存在差异且可能互补的作用提供了证据。因此，针对PTSD的干预可能需要同时针对负性和正性效价加工。
