Posttraumatic stress disorder and memory: Evidence of maladaptations to stressors

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

People with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are entering the workforce in record numbers as they discharge from the military and attempt to enter the civilian workforce. Understanding how PTSD affects the human mind will help organizations manage their employees more effectively by allowing supervisors to set up systems that compensate for deficits. PTSD appears to cause significant memory and attentional deficits; however, it is difficult to determine whether the attentional deficits contribute to the memory deficits. The current study used the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) to examine the memory deficits separate from the attention difficulties in people with PTSD. Results demonstrated that PTSD severity correlated with attention issues, but not memory issues. The authors discuss these findings in terms of their clinical and organizational applications.