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Background: Rumination, defined as perseverative thinking regarding the causes and consequences of psychological symptoms, is a risk and maintaining factor for PTSD. Existing work has largely focused on the extent to which rumination functions as a coping strategy used to avoid traumatic memories and associated emotions. However, rumination may also maintain negative thinking patterns, such as hostility, which has been positively associated with both rumination and PTSD symptoms. The current study therefore investigated the extent to which hostility was a significant mediator of the prospective association between rumination and PTSD symptoms.Methods: The sample consisted of 119 trauma-exposed individuals (48.7% female), who completed self-report questionnaires at three time points during a clinical trial.Results: When controlling for treatment condition and baseline depressive disorder diagnosis, hostility temporally mediated the effects of rumination on PTSD symptoms. Specificity analyses provided further support for the direction and specific variables examined in this model, such that rumination was positively and uniquely associated with later hostility.Limitations: Our findings are limited by the use of a sample in which only 30% of participants met diagnostic criteria for a trauma-related disorder, as well as the administration of the rumination measure at only one time point.Conclusions: Results suggest that rumination and hostility may be promising treatment and prevention targets for PTSD symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hostility and aggression have been found to be highly prevalent among depressed patients and are associated with higher comorbidity and illness severity levels. Although negative interpretation biases are a fundamental element of cognitive models of depression, few studies have examined the specific biases in information processing, mainly the hostile attribution bias, found in hostile individuals who present depressive symptoms.Method: Using pre-collected data from a sample of 72 (male=41,6%, female=58,3%) undergraduate and community-based hostile (n = 26) and non-hostile (n = 46) adult participants, the authors aimed to examine the association between depression and the hostile attribution bias by determining whether depression level scores were uniquely related to electrophysiological measures of the hostile attribution bias.Results: The hostile group showed higher measured levels of depression and reactive aggression compared to the non-hostile group. Also, depression scores were significant predictors of the N400 effect in the non-hostile task condition, while reactive aggression was not, whereas in the hostile condition, the overall model was significant, with depression and reactive aggression levels both showing strong trends towards significance.Limitations: A small sample size limited the scope of our conclusions. Also, sample selection prevented us from examining specific group differences regarding the hostile attribution bias in depressed and non-depressed groups.Conclusion: Clinical and research implications include the necessity to apply cognitive restructuring techniques to counter biased interpretation processes in settings where depression and aggression intersect, and the need to consider alternatives to self-evaluative methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Psychological factors such as hostility and depression have been associated with cardiovascular disease. However, their role in predicting incident cardiac events independently one of another is not clear.Methods: Among 10,304 GAZEL middle-aged workers free of cardiovascular diseases in 1993, 581 incident cardiac events were validated from 1994-2014. Hostile traits (cognitive hostility, behavioral hostility, irritability and negativism) were assessed with the Buss and Durkee Hostility Inventory at baseline. Depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and every three years with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. We used Cox proportional hazards models to calculate hazard ratios (HR) of hostile traits for incident cardiac events adjusting for baseline self-reported socio-demographics and family history of coronary heart diseases (model 1), then additionally for time-dependent depressive symptoms (either as a binary or continuous variable) (model 2) and for yearly self-reported modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (physical activity, smoking, body mass index, diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension) (model 3).Results: In Model 1, the only hostile trait associated with incident cardiac events was irritability (HR for one interquartile range: 1.16, 95% confidence interval: 1.02-1.32). This association was no longer statistically significant when further adjusting for depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms, in turn, remained significant predictors of cardiac events with HRs ranging from 1.40-1.49 (binary).Limitations: Hostility traits were measured only once.Conclusions: Depressive symptoms might explain the association between irritability and cardiac events and should therefore be prioritized in interventions aiming to prevent cardiovascular disease. Further research is needed to identify the mechanisms underlying this association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Suicide rates are higher in veterans compared to the general population, perhaps due to trauma exposure. Previous literature highlights depressive symptoms and anger as contributors to suicide risk. PTSD symptoms may indirectly affect suicide risk by increasing the severity of such cognitive-emotional factors.Method: A sample of community dwelling veterans (N=545) completed online surveys, including the PTSD Checklist-Military Version, Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised, Multidimensional Health Profile-Psychosocial Functioning, and Differential Emotions Scale -IV. Bivariate and serial mediation analyses were conducted to test for direct and indirect effects of PTSD symptoms on suicide risk.Results: In bivariate analyses, PTSD symptoms, depression, anger, and internal hostility were positively related to suicide risk. In serial mediation analyses, there was a significant total effect of PTSD symptoms on suicide risk in both models. PTSD symptoms were also indirectly related to suicidal behavior via depression and internal hostility, and via internal hostility alone. Anger was not a significant mediator.Limitation: Our cross-sectional sample was predominantly White and male; prospective studies with diverse veterans are needed.Discussion: Our findings may have implications for veteran suicide prevention. The effects of PTSD and depression on anger, particularly internal hostility, are related to suicide risk, suggesting a potential mechanism of action for the PTSD-suicide linkage. A multi-faceted therapeutic approach, targeting depression and internal hostility, via cognitive-behavioral techniques such as behavioral activation and cognitive restructuring, may reduce suicide risk in veterans who have experienced trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research suggests an important relationship between interpretation bias, hostility and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Extant literature has yet to examine hostile interpretation bias in clinically depressed samples; the current studies sought to fill this gap.Method: Study 1 participants included undergraduates who met criteria for MDD (n=36) or no anxiety or mood diagnosis (n=35). Each participant completed a structured clinical interview along with measures of depression, hostile interpretation bias, and trait hostility. In Study 2, a sample of treatment-seeking individuals with elevated trait anger completed measures of depression, hostile interpretation bias, and trait anger.Results: Study 1 demonstrated that, relative to the non-depressed group, individuals with depression displayed greater hostile interpretation bias but comparable levels of trait hostility. In Study 2, greater hostile interpretation bias was associated with greater depressive symptoms, and this relationship was independent of co-occurring trait anger.Limitations: The correlational nature of these studies precludes interpretation of causal relationships between constructs. Additionally, replication of these results should be sought in a larger, more diverse sample.Conclusion: Overall, the findings suggest hostile interpretation bias may play a unique role in depression and could be a treatable feature of interpersonal mechanisms maintaining MDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: This study attempted to validate a clinical typology of dysfunctional anger proposed by DiGiuseppe and Tafrate (2007) using assessment data obtained from 197 participants assessed at an outpatient clinic for anger problems. Methods: Several self-report scales assessing anger, hostility, impulsivity and aggression, as well as a structured interview regarding anger experience and expression, were administered; Axis I and II comorbidity were assessed using clinical assessment and the SCID-II PQ. Results: We found support for four of the proposed eight types described by DiGiuseppe and Tafrate – Pervasive Dysfunctional Anger, Impulsive Type; Pervasive Dysfunctional Anger, Mixed Type; Impulsive Aggressive Dysfunctional Anger; and Suppressed Dysfunctional Anger – with significant, predicted group differences on self-report measures of anger, aggression, and impulsivity, as well as differences in Axis I and II diagnoses. Limitations: Patients were rarely assigned to the other four dysfunctional anger types and thus we could not examine the validity of these types. We relied heavily on self-report data. Conclusions: Anger is a common symptom in outpatient psychiatry clinics. It is associated with both mood and anxiety disorder diagnoses, and often co-occurs with substance use problems. Different types of angry patients will likely require different assessment and treatment approaches. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]