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This study employed secondary analyses of existing ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data to characterize hostile and irritable affect in the day-to-day experience of 52 smokers with, and 65 smokers without, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). EMA monitoring occurred over a mean of 8.2 days, and participants responded to an average of 2.8 random prompts/day. Analyses included Wilcoxon rank sum tests of group differences, and path analyses of cross-lagged multilevel models. Participants with PTSD endorsed a significantly higher proportion of total EMA entries indicating hostile affect and irritable affect than did individuals without PTSD. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that over a period of hours, PTSD symptoms significantly predicted subsequent hostile and irritable affect, but hostile and irritable affect did not predict subsequent PTSD symptoms. Findings suggest that day-to-day exposure to PTSD-related trauma cues may contribute to chronically elevated levels of anger-related affect. Such heightened affective arousal may, in turn, underlie an increased risk for verbal or physical aggression, as well as other health and quality-of-life related impairments associated with PTSD. Clinical implications include conceptualizing anger treatment in the broader context of trauma history and symptoms, and specifically targeting physiological arousal and maladaptive hostile cognitions triggered by trauma reminders in patients with PTSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Female Veterans are the fastest growing demographic group in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Moreover, suicide rates in female Veterans are increasing, making suicide in female Veterans a topic of vital clinical and research significance. The current study examined the association between suicide, aggression, and mood symptoms by sex. Participants consisted of 264 Veterans (female=54, male=210) ages 18-55. Veterans completed well-validated measures of suicidal behaviors, aggression, anxiety, and depression. Male Veterans reported higher physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, hostility, and total aggression compared to female Veterans. In male Veterans, lifetime suicidal behavior including ideation and attempts was correlated with total aggression and subscales of physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility. However, in female Veterans lifetime suicidal behavior was significantly associated with hostility and anger. There were no between-group differences in measures of suicidal behaviors, anxious or depressive symptoms. These results suggest important differences in the association between aggression and suicidal behavior by sex. These data have significant clinical implications, as males with aggressive traits and females who endorse hostility and anger may be more likely to engage in suicidal behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]