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Is mixed‐handedness a marker of treatment response in posttraumatic stress disorder?: A pilot study
Author(s) -
Forbes David,
Carty Jessica,
Elliott Peter,
Creamer Mark,
McHugh Tony,
Hopwood Malcolm,
Chemtob Claude M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.20160
Subject(s) - psychology , psychosocial , clinical psychology , posttraumatic stress , psychiatry , anxiety disorder , anxiety
Recent studies suggest that mixed‐handedness is a risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study examined whether mixed‐handed veterans with combat‐related PTSD respond more poorly to psychosocial treatment. Consistency of hand preference was assessed in 150 Vietnam combat veterans with PTSD using the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (R. C. Oldfield, 1971). Growth modeling analyses using Mplus (L. K. Muthén & B. Muthén, 2002) identified that PTSD veterans with mixed‐handedness reported significantly less treatment improvement on the PTSD Checklist (F. W. Weathers, B. T. Litz, D. S. Herman, J. A. Huska, & T. M. Keane, 1993) than did veterans with consistent handedness. These data suggest that mixed‐handedness is associated with poorer PTSD treatment response. Several possible explanations for this finding are discussed.