Biomedical subjects

Kasey M Saltzman

Publications and source records attributed to Kasey M Saltzman.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

IQ and posttraumatic stress symptoms in children exposed to interpersonal violence.

BACKGROUND: The literature is mixed as to the relationship between intelligence quotient (IQ) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptomatology in adult populations. Even less is known about the relationship in children who have been traumatized. METHODS: Fifty-nine children and adolescents (mean age = 10.6) with a history of interpersonal violence were evaluated with respect to PTSD symptomatology, number of traumas, and estimated Verbal, Performance and Full scale IQ scores. PTSD symptomatology included symptom levels for cluster B (re-experiencing), cluster C (avoidance and numbing), and cluster D (Hypervigilance) and criterion F, functional impairment. RESULTS: Results indicated that Full scale and Verbal IQ were significantly associated with the number of traumas, re-experiencing symptoms, and impairment. Performance IQ was only associated with impairment. Regression analyses suggested that together PTSD symptomatology predicted Full scale and Verbal IQ but nor Performance IQ and impairment was the single best predictor of IQ generally. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide support for an association between PTSD symptoms and IQ, particularly verbal IQ. Two possible reasons for this relationship are that higher levels of Verbal IQ may serve as a premorbid protective factor against the development of re-experiencing symptoms, or performance on post-trauma Verbal IQ measures may be negatively impacted by expression of PTSD symptoms. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify which of these two possibilities explains the association.

Child↗

PubMed2006

Mixed lateral preference in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Recent research indicates that adults with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a higher incidence of mixed laterality with respect to handedness than the rest of the population. To test if this relationship also occurs early in life, we evaluated children with history of interpersonal trauma. Fifty-nine traumatized children were evaluated with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents and the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. Forty matched healthy controls were used for comparison. Increased mixed laterality was found in all children exhibiting symptoms of PTSD when compared with healthy controls, and children who met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for PTSD had more mixed laterality than the subthreshold traumatized group (F = 7.71; df = 2,96; p = 0.001). Within the entire traumatized group, there was a positive correlation between PTSD symptom severity and mixed laterality. Mixed laterality was positively associated with PTSD symptoms in traumatized children, suggesting that neurological abnormalities may be related to degree of PTSD symptom expression.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Development of anxiety disorders in a traumatized pediatric population: a preliminary longitudinal evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: The current study was conducted to determine if post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology predicted later development of non-PTSD anxiety disorders in children and adolescents victimized by interpersonal trauma. METHODS: Thirty-four children with a history of interpersonal trauma and no initial diagnosis of anxiety disorder participated in the study. Children were assessed at time one (T1) and then 12-18 months later at time two (T2). At T1, the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents (CAPS-CA) and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) were used to evaluate children's PTSD symptoms and comorbid non-PTSD anxiety disorder diagnosis. At T2, the CAPS-CA and the K-SADS-PL were repeated. RESULTS: The diagnosis of PTSD and PTSD symptoms in children exposed to interpersonal trauma at T1, particularly the symptoms associated with avoidance and constricted emotional expression (criteria C) as well as physiological hyperarousal (criteria D), predicted the development of other anxiety disorders at T2. CONCLUSION: Traumatized children with initial PTSD symptomatology may be at risk of later development of other anxiety disorders.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

The psychobiology of children exposed to marital violence.

We examined the psychological and physiological functioning of a community sample of children exposed to marital violence, comparing them to a clinical comparison group without marital violence exposure. Results replicated past findings of elevated levels of trauma symptomatology in this population. Further, children exposed to marital violence differed significantly from comparison children with respect to sympathetic nervous system functioning and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. Specifically, elevations were seen in heart rate and salivary cortisol levels, but not in orthostatic challenge response or blood pressure. These results indicate that children exposed to marital violence have a different physiological presentation than controls and may be physiologically "traumatized" by virtue of marital violence exposure.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

A prospective test of the association between hyperarousal and emotional numbing in youth with a history of traumatic stress.

Investigated the hypothesis that emotional numbing may develop as a result of hyperarousal using a prospective design. Forty-two children between the ages of 7 and 14 with a history of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents (CAPS-CA; Nader et al., 1996) and were reassessed 1 year later. Results indicated that hyperarousal symptoms were concurrently positively correlated with emotional numbing at both time points. Moreover, Time 1 hyperarousal symptoms were associated with emotional numbing at Time 2 and predicted Time 2 emotional numbing even when controlling for each of the other symptom clusters of PTSD at Time 1 as well as other concurrent (i.e., Time 2) PTSD symptoms. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of the findings for enhancing the understanding of PTSD symptoms in youth.

Affective Symptoms↗