Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-j4x9h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-12T16:08:49.489Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2009

BRIAN P. MARX*
Affiliation:
VA Boston Healthcare System, Behavioral Science Division, National Center for PTSD, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Psychology, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
SUSAN DORON-LAMARCA
Affiliation:
VA Boston Healthcare System, Behavioral Science Division, National Center for PTSD, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Psychology, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
SUSAN P. PROCTOR
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts Military Performance Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
JENNIFER J. VASTERLING
Affiliation:
VA Boston Healthcare System, Behavioral Science Division, National Center for PTSD, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Psychology, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
*
*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

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.)

Information

Type
Symposia
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable