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Alexithymia as a predictor of treatment response in post-traumatic stress disorder

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Journal of Traumatic Stress

Abstract

Fifty-seven veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) completed the Alexithymia Provoked Response Questionnaire (APRQ) upon entering an 8-week randomized trial comparing phenelzine, imipramine, and placebo. Low alexithymia on the APRQ significantly predicted improvement on the avoidance items of the Impact of Events Scale (IES) particularly among patients treated with placebo, but was not associated with changes in the intrusion items of the scale.

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Kosten, T.R., Krystal, J.H., Giller, E.L. et al. Alexithymia as a predictor of treatment response in post-traumatic stress disorder. J Trauma Stress 5, 563–573 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00979225

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