Compelled attention: The effects of viewing trauma-related stimuli on concurrent task performance in posttraumatic stress disorder

We examined the ability of Vietnam veterans with PTSD to focus attention on a primary digit detection task while concurrently viewing neutral or Vietn am-related picture ann word distractors. Controlling for combat exposure, m ilitary service, and psychopathology veterans with PTSD took longer to dete ct the target when Vietnam-related pictures were distractors. There were no reaction rime differences when word stimuli were distractors. The latency effect was specific to trials with trauma-related pictures and did not spre ad to neutral trials interleaved within a mixed block of trauma and neutral pictures. Individuals with PTSD recalled proportionally more Vietnam-relat ed words than other groups, implying differential attention to Vietnam-rela ted words. Attending to trauma-related pictures interferes with performance of a concurrent task by individuals with PTSD.