B – 108 Neuropsychological Correlates of Verbal Memory Deficits and Treatment Outcomes in Adults with PTSD

Abstract Objective This review examined whether verbal memory deficits in adults with PTSD predict suboptimal outcomes following trauma-informed psychotherapy. Method Studies were selected from peer-reviewed sources identified via multiple databases (e.g., PubMed, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, APA PsycNET) using terms including “PTSD,” “adults,” “verbal memory,” “treatment outcome,” “neuropsychological testing,” and “trauma-focused psychotherapy.” The search included nine peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2008 and 2018. Inclusion criteria required that studies focus on objective neurocognitive assessments and subjective cognitive complaints in PTSD adult populations (veterans and civilians), with particular emphasis on verbal memory. Exclusions applied to studies focusing on children, using only self-report measures, or lacking quantitative data. Results The literature synthesis reveals a consistent association between poorer verbal memory performance and reduced therapeutic response in PTSD. Objective measures (e.g., California Verbal Learning Test) and subjective measures indicate that lower scores in immediate and delayed recall predict lesser clinical improvement. Moreover, improvements in neurocognitive performance following treatment correlate with symptom reduction, although discrepancies exist between objective assessments and self-reported cognitive problems. Conclusion The evidence suggests that neurocognitive deficits, especially in verbal memory, may compromise the effectiveness of trauma-focused therapies for PTSD. These findings indicate that routinely including neurocognitive assessments in clinical practice may be advantageous, and adapting trauma-focused interventions to specifically address verbal memory challenges could enhance treatment outcomes. Further research could explore these relationships with larger, more diverse samples to confirm these relationships and optimize treatment outcomes.