Impaired memory and general intelligence related to severity and duration of patients' disease in Type A posttraumatic stress disorder

Studies of short-term memory and general intelligence associated with duration and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on observed Type A scores are rare. The authors' aim was to assess Type A behavior and identify subgroups of patients who performed most poorly on memory and intelligence tests and Type A scores related to the severity and duration of their disease. They administered nonverbal memory and intelligence tests to 30 men with PTSD and 20 men without PTSD who responded. During their initial contact with the participants, 2 experts assessed 3 major coronary-prone characteristics (hyperalertness, tight facial musculature, and explosive speech). They found significant differences between the PTSD and control groups in total Type A scores. Those with the most severe PTSD performed most poorly on visual retention tests and showed the highest scores on self-reported and subjective diastolic blood pressure reactivity during magnetic resonance imaging. In the PTSD group, high error scores on the visual retention test predicted Type A behavior and low scores on the picture memory block design tests predicted high Type A scores. A significant positive correlation was found between Type A and clinician-assessed subjective distress, whereas the correlations were significantly negative between picture memory and Type A behavior Suppressed fear is commonly associated with PTSD; decades of research on Type A behavior have isolated fear as a crucial factor in cardiovascular disease.