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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Terror management and cognitive-experiential self-theory: evidence that terror management occurs in the experiential system.

The authors hypothesized, on the basis of terror management theory and cognitive-experiential self-theory, that participants in an experiential mode of thinking would respond to mortality salience with increased worldview defense and increased accessibility of death-related thoughts, whereas participants in a rational mode would not. Results from 3 studies provided convergent evidence that when participants were in an experiential mode, mortality salience produced the typical worldview defense effect, but when participants were in a rational mode it did not. Study 4 revealed that mortality salience also led to a delayed increase in the accessibility of death-related thoughts only when participants were in an experiential mode. These results supported the notion that worldwide defense is intensified only if individuals are in an experiential mode when considering their mortality. Discussion focuses on implications for understanding terror management processes.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

A comparative model of the psychological effects on the victims of state and anti-state terrorism.

This paper has examined and compared the psychological impact of both state and anti-state terrorism on the victim. In this regard, three dimensions to this issue were discussed: (a) the effects that are common to anti-state terror and state-terror; (b) the effects that are unique to anti-state terror; and (c) the psychological effects and sequelae specifically associated with state-terror. Given the paucity of empirical research together with the complexity of the subject matter, definitive statements are difficult to advance. Despite this, however, a number of tentative conclusions can be made. With respect to psychological reactions during the incident, many similarities seem to hold for victims of a hostage-taking, concentration camps, and torture. That is, the incident begins with a period of initial shock accompanied by extreme fear and anxiety. This is followed by a phase characterized by outward acceptance of the perpetrator's control while inside the victim is experiencing extreme fright. Gradually, a period of adaptation sets in, whereby the victim may resort to a number of coping strategies. Although similarities continue after the incident--the post-traumatic stress syndrome, for example--the intensity and duration of psychological sequelae appear to be much greater in victims of state-terror. Given the extreme brutality that invariably accompanies state-terror, this is not surprising. While the methods of anti-state terrorists may take a number of different forms, usually their resources and techniques are limited in comparison to state-terror. It is only more recently in the Middle East that anti-state terrorists more routinely are engaging in long-term detention and torture of victims. On the other hand, regimes that employ state-terror have a wide range of violent techniques at their disposal, most importantly concentration camps. It appears that prolonged physical and emotional violence combined with little hope of relief or escape is critical to understanding why victims of state terrorism are more likely to suffer more serious mental disorders than victims of anti-state terrorism.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

Limits of self-report in assessing sleep terrors in a population survey.

Sleep terrors are less frequent compared to other parasomnias, and there are no prevalence studies on adults. We performed a questionnaire study in a well-defined population-based sample, the Finnish Twin Cohort. The study population consisted of 11,220 subjects aged 33-60 years, responding to questions on the frequency of sleep terrors in childhood and as adults. In the first questionnaire about 9% reported sleep terrors often or sometimes in childhood, and 3.5% at least once monthly as adults. However, in a second more-detailed questionnaire, only 1% of those with at-least-monthly attacks in adulthood presented with features compatible with the minimal diagnostic criteria for sleep terrors of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders. There was also a strong correlation between current occurrence of nightmares and the report of sleep terrors. Although a clinically definable entity, sleep terrors seem to be unknown to lay people, at least in Finland. Therefore, the use of single items or brief question series on sleep terrors may give inaccurate results in questionnaires. An interview of a person who has witnessed the nocturnal attack suspected to be sleep terror is essential because of the patient's impaired recall of the episode. Our results also support the general view that sleep terrors are rare in adults.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Night terrors in adults: phenomenology and relationship to psychopathology.

BACKGROUND: Night terrors have been classically described in children. Night terrors occurring in adults have been linked to psychopathology. Recent descriptions of sleep panic attacks have raised questions about their relationship to night terrors. METHOD: Evaluations from a medically affiliated sleep disorders program were reviewed to identify adult patients presenting with events consistent with night terrors. Eleven patients were identified, 10 of whom had polysomnographic evaluation, and their records were reviewed for information relevant to night terrors and psychiatric symptoms. Six of these patients were available for further assessment which included inquiry regarding sleep events, a Structured Clinical Interview (SCID) for psychiatric disorders, and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory II (MCMI-II) for personality-related measurements. RESULTS: In the original sample, night terror episodes featured confused behaviors, motor activity, and absent or fragmented recall. Polysomnography documented arousals from slow wave sleep in 9 of 10 patients. All of the original patients reported psychiatric symptoms. All 6 patients who received the subsequent structured evaluation met lifetime criteria for Axis I conditions (most commonly affective and substance use disorders) and had elevated scores on the personality scales of the MCMI-II. Night terrors were not limited to psychiatric episodes. CONCLUSION: Night terrors occur in adults that are similar to episodes described in children. While distinct from sleep panic attacks, night terrors appear to occur in adults with histories of psychopathology.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Is there a dissociative process in sleepwalking and night terrors?

The enduring and contentious hypothesis that sleepwalking and night terrors are symptomatic of a protective dissociative mechanism is examined. This is mobilised when intolerable impulses, feelings and memories escape, within sleep, the diminished control of mental defence mechanisms. They then erupt but in a limited motoric or affective form with restricted awareness and subsequent amnesia for the event. It has also been suggested that such processes are more likely when the patient has a history of major psychological trauma. In a group of 22 adult patients, referred to a tertiary sleep disorders service with possible sleepwalking/night terrors, diagnosis was confirmed both clinically and polysomnographically, and only six patients had a history of such trauma. More commonly these described sleepwalking/night terrors are associated with vivid dream-like experiences or behaviour related to flight from attack. Two such cases, suggestive of a dissociative process, are described in more detail. The results of this study are presented largely on account of the negative findings. Scores on the dissociation questionnaire (DIS-Q) were normal, although generally higher in the small "trauma" subgroup. These were similar to scores characterising individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. This "trauma" group also scored particularly highly on the anxiety, phobic, and depression scales of the Crown-Crisp experiential index. In contrast the "no trauma" group scored more specifically highly on the anxiety scale, along with major trends to high depression and hysteria scale scores. Two cases are presented which illustrate exceptional occurrence of later onset of sleepwalking/night terrors with accompanying post-traumatic symptoms during wakefulness. It is concluded that a history of major psychological trauma exists in only a minority of adult patients presenting with sleepwalking/night terror syndrome. In this subgroup trauma appears to dictate the subsequent content of the attacks. However, the symptoms express themselves within the form of the sleepwalking/night terror syndrome rather than as rapid eye movement sleep related nightmares. The main group of subjects with the syndrome and with no history of major psychological trauma show no clinical or DIS-Q evidence of dissociation during wakefulness. The proposition that, within the character structure of this group, the mechanism still operates but exclusively within sleep remains a possibility.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Night terrors. Clinical characteristics and personality patterns.

The development and clinical course of night terrors and the personality patterns of patients with this disorder were evaluated in 40 adults who had a current complaint of night terrors. Compared with a group of adult sleepwalkers, the patients with night terrors had a later age of onset for their disorder, a higher frequency of events, and an earlier time of night for the occurrence of episodes. Both groups had high levels of psychopathology, with higher values for the night terror group. This sleepwalkers showed active, outwardly directed behavioral patterns, whereas the night terror patients showed an inhibition of outward expressions of aggression and a predominance of anxiety, depression, tendencies obsessive-compulsive/, and phobicness. Although night terrors and sleepwalking in childhood seem to be related primarily to genetic and developmental factors, their persistence and especially their onset in adulthood are found to be related more to psychological factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Auditory evoked potentials in narcolepsy and sleep terrors.

Dysfunction of brainstem reticular activating centers has been suggested in some sleep disorders, including narcolepsy and sleep terrors. Previous studies have suggested normal brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) in narcolepsy and enhancement of long-latency auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) in sleep deprivation and conditions of pathological somnolence. Sleep terrors have not to date been studied neurophysiologically. We recorded early latency BAEPs and long-latency auditory ERPs in 8 patients with narcolepsy and 5 individuals with sleep terrors, and compared them to 10 normal controls. Narcolepsy patients and controls did not differ significantly in absolute or interpeak latency of BAEPs. Sleep terror patients had significant prolongation relative to controls of III-V and I-V interpeak latencies. The N1, N2, and P3 AEP components were prolonged in latency in narcoleptic patients as compared to controls, while sleep terror patients did not differ from controls. No significant differences in amplitude were found. These findings suggest that a disturbance of integration of brainstem centers subserving wakefulness and sleep may play a role in the disordered arousal of sleep terrors, but suggest no specific abnormality in brainstem function in narcolepsy. The AEP changes in narcolepsy may be a manifestation of pathological sleepiness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Hereditary factors in sleepwalking and night terrors.

The families of 25 probands with sleepwalking and 27 probands with night terrors were studied. Eighty per cent of the sleepwalking pedigrees and 96 per cent of the night terror pedigrees included one or more individuals, other than the proband, who were affected by sleepwalking, night terrors, or both. Our data appear to fit a 'two threshold' multifactorial mode of inheritance. This finding supports the hypothesis that sleepwalking and night terrors share a common genetic predisposition, with sleepwalking being a more prevalent and less severe manifestation of the same substrate that underlies night terrors. Heritable factors predispose an individual to develop sleepwalking and/or night terrors, but expression of the trait may be influenced by environmental factors.

Female↗
PubMed1999

Psychiatric comorbidity of adolescents with sleep terrors or sleepwalking: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the psychiatric comorbidity, personality traits and family history of adolescents with sleep terrors and/or sleepwalking. METHOD: Thirty students with sleep terrors and/or sleepwalking and 30 classroom controls were selected on the basis of a sleep habit questionnaire. After completing the Junior Eysenck Personality Inventory (JEPI), the 60 subjects were interviewed by the first author with the Chinese-version Kiddie-SADS-E (Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for Children--Epidemiology Version). All subjects and their parents were interviewed for the subjects' sleep habits, sleep disorders, and personality characteristics in the previous year. The case and the control groups were divided based on whether the sleep terrors and/or sleepwalking had occurred in the previous year. There were 21 case and 30 control subjects in the final data analysis. RESULTS: The case group had more psychiatric diagnoses and problems; there were statistically significant differences in overanxious disorder, panic disorder, simple phobia and suicidal thoughts between the two groups. The case group had more sleeptalking and nightmares during the previous year as well as more enuresis in earlier years. From their parents' perspective, the case group was more nervous and pessimistic. The results of the JEPI showed a high neuroticism score in the case group. There was an increased familial occurrence of these two sleep disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with sleep terrors and sleepwalking were found to have an increased prevalence of other sleep disorders, neurotic traits, and psychiatric disorders and problems. Whereas sleep terrors and sleepwalking in childhood are related primarily to genetic and developmental factors, their persistence and, especially, their onset in adolescence may be related to psychological factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Habituation of orienting reaction in night terrors.

A polygraphic study on resistance to habituation of the somatic (EMG), autonomic (finger vasoconstriction, galvanic skin reaction, respiration, pulse) and EEG (acoustic-evoked potential, EEG-blocking reaction) components of the orienting reaction elicited by a repetitive auditory stimulus was performed in 36 patients with night terrors and in 72 matched subjects in two control groups. The study evidenced a significantly higher resistance to habituation of the orienting reaction in patients with night terrors than in normal subjects (control group I) but significantly lower than in patients with symptomatic epilepsy (control group II). The severity of these habituation disturbances in patients with night terrors depended on the patients' age, the history of nocturnal events and their clinical form, as well as on the etiology of episodes. The habituation changes found in patients with night terrors may be ascribed to the nervous disorders of functional and/or organic nature which generated also the night terrors episodes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

The treatment of childhood night terrors through the use of hypnosis--a case study: a brief communication.

Night terrors are nocturnal episodes of intense autonomic arousal which are manifested by loud shouting or screaming in terror. The sufferer is not awake and is generally completely amnestic for the episodes. Night terrors and other sleep disturbances, such as somnambulism, are disorders of arousal (Broughton, 1968; Fisher, Kahn, Edwards, & Davis, 1973; Guilleminault, 1987). A 10-year-old white male was treated for a 6-year-long bout of night terrors. The hypnotic induction consisted of the finger lowering technique where the middle 2 fingers were raised and the individual was asked to watch the fingers as they "go to sleep." He was given suggestions for dropping off to sleep gradually and for rotating cycles of sleep. The regularity and continual movement of the cycles of sleep were emphasized. He was also given direct suggestions for not dropping too quickly into an extremely deep stage of sleep. He has not had a recurrence of night terrors since that time (approximately 2 years). Psychodynamic issues are discussed as is the need for further research.

Arousal↗
PubMed1989

Night terrors: strategies for family coping.

This article discusses the occurrence of night terrors (parvor nocturnus) in children. The characteristics of a typical night terror incident are described, as are the common parental reactions to such frightening events. Nurses who work with children and families need to know about the etiology and clinical course of night terrors. They need to be able to differentiate night terrors from other sleep disturbances and determine possible ways to alleviate the occurrences. This article emphasizes assessment, anticipatory guidance, education, and counseling. A practical guide for parents is included to provide families with information on ways to cope with night terrors.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

The poison center role in biological and chemical terrorism.

Nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) terrorism countermeasures are a major priority with municipalities, healthcare providers, and the federal government. Significant resources are being invested to enhance civilian domestic preparedness by conducting education at every response level in anticipation of a NBC terroristic incident. The key to a successful response, in addition to education, is integration of efforts as well as thorough communication and understanding the role that each agency would play in an actual or impending NBC incident. In anticipation of a NBC event, a regional counter-terrorism task force was established to identify resources, establish responsibilities and coordinate the response to NBC terrorism. Members of the task force included first responders, hazmat, law enforcement (local, regional, national), government officials, the health department, and the regional poison information center. Response protocols were developed and education was conducted, culminating in all members of the response task force becoming certified NBC instructors. The poison center participated actively in 3 incidents of suspected biologic and chemical terrorism: an alleged anthrax-contaminated letter sent to a women's health clinic; a possible sarin gas release in a high school: and a potential anthrax/ebola contamination incident at an international airport. All incidents were determined hoaxes. The regional response plan establishes the poison information center as a common repository for all cases in a biological or chemical incident. The poison center is one of several critical components of a regional counterterrorism response force. It can conduct active and passive toxicosurveillance and identify sentinel events. To be responsive, the poison center staff must be knowledgeable about biological and chemical agents. The development of basic protocols and a standardized staff education program is essential. The use of the RaPiD-T (R-recognition, P-protection, D-detection, T-triage/treatment) course can provide basic staff education for responding to this important but rare consultation to the poison center.

Biological Warfare↗