Symposia

The influence of pre-deployment neurocognitive functioning on post-deployment PTSD symptom outcomes among Iraq-deployed Army soldiers

BRIAN P. MARX^a1a2a3 c1, SUSAN DORON-LAMARCA^a1a2a3, SUSAN P. PROCTOR^a2a4a5 and JENNIFER J. VASTERLING^a1a2a3

^a1 VA Boston Healthcare System, Behavioral Science Division, National Center for PTSD, Boston, Massachusetts

^a2 Department of Psychology, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts

^a3 Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

^a4 Military Performance Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, Massachusetts

^a5 Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts

Abstract

This study evaluated associations between pre-deployment neurocognitive performance and post-deployment posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a sample of deployed active duty Army soldiers. As part of a larger longitudinal study, each participant completed baseline measures of memory, executive attention, and response inhibition, and baseline and post-deployment self-report measures of PTSD symptom severity. Data were subjected to multiple regression analyses that examined associations between baseline neurocognitive performances and longitudinal PTSD symptom outcome. Results revealed that pre-trauma immediate recall of visual information was associated with post-deployment PTSD symptom severity, even after controlling for pre-deployment PTSD symptom levels, combat intensity, age, gender, and test-retest interval. There was also an interaction between pre-deployment PTSD symptom severity and pre-deployment immediate visual recall and verbal learning, indicating that neurocognitive performances were more strongly (and negatively) associated with residualized post-deployment PTSD symptoms at higher levels of pre-deployment PTSD symptoms. These findings highlight the potential role of pre-trauma neurocognitive functioning in moderating the effects of trauma exposure on PTSD symptoms.(JINS, 2009, 15, 840–852.)

(Received December 12 2008)

(Reviewed June 03 2009)

(Accepted June 08 2009)

Keywords

• Visual memory;
• Verbal memory;
• Attention;
• Neurocognitive functioning;
• PTSD;
• Combat

Correspondence:

^c1 Correspondence and reprint requests: Brian P. Marx, Ph.D., National Center for PTSD (116B-2), VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston MA 02130. E-mail: brian.marx@va.gov

Footnotes

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