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Hyperarousal_symptoms_after_traumatic_and_nontraumatic_births_-_Accepted_version.pdf (356.02 kB)

Hyperarousal symptoms after traumatic and nontraumatic births

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posted on 2023-06-08, 20:19 authored by Susan Ayers, Daniel B Wright, Elizabeth FordElizabeth Ford
Background: Measurement is critical in postnatal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because symptoms may be influenced by normal postnatal phenomena such as physiological changes and fatigue. Objective: This study examined: (1) whether hyperarousal symptoms differ between women who have traumatic or nontraumatic births; (2) whether the construct of hyperarousal is coherent in postnatal women; and (3) whether hyperarousal symptoms are useful for identifying women who have traumatic births or PTSD. Methods: A survey of PTSD symptoms in 1,078 women recruited via the community or Internet who completed an online or paper questionnaire measuring childbirth-related PTSD symptoms between 1 and 36 months after birth. Women who had a traumatic birth as defined by DSM-IV criterion A (n = 458) were compared with women who did not have a traumatic birth (n = 591). Results: A one-factor dimension of hyperarousal was identified that included all five hyperarousal items. Diagnostic criteria of two or more hyperarousal symptoms in the previous week were reported by 75.3% of women with traumatic birth and 50.5% of women with nontraumatic births. The difference in mean hyperarousal symptoms between groups was substantial at 0.76 of a standard deviation (Hedge’s g, CI = 0.64, 0.89). A larger difference was observed between women with and without diagnostic PTSD (g = 1.64, CI 1.46, 1.81). However, receiver operating characteristic analyses showed hyperarousal symptoms have poor specificity and alternative ways of calculating symptoms did not improve this. Comparison with other PTSD symptoms found re-experiencing symptoms were most accurate at identifying women with traumatic births. Conclusions: Results suggest hyperarousal symptoms are associated with traumatic birth and are a coherent construct in postnatal women. However, they have poor specificity and should only be used as part of diagnostic criteria, not as a sole indicator.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology

ISSN

0264-6838

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

3

Volume

33

Page range

282-293

Department affiliated with

  • BSMS Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-03-20

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2016-03-11

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2015-08-11

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