The Clinician‐Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) is a structured interview for assessing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnostic status and symptom severity. In the 10 years since it was developed, the CAPS has become a standard criterion measure in the field of traumatic stress and has now been used in more than 200 studies. Letter code Qualification Guidelines C B A N Degree PhD (clinical psychologist) A doctoral degree (PhD, PsyD, MD) in psychology or related field MA (psychologist, SLP, OT) A.

Introduction Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of death in the developed world (). According to recent estimates, ~6 million people die annually due to cardiovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease (). Patients usually perceive an acute MI as a sudden and life-threatening event, involving high intensity of fear of dying, helplessness and loss of control. Two reviews showed that ~15% of patients develop Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after an acute MI (; ). It should be noted that this previous research applied Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV criteria for the assessment of PTSD (), whereas PTSD diagnostic criteria were recently revised in the DSM-5 (). According to the DSM-5 the diagnosis of PTSD requires several criteria: Criterion A stipulates exposure to a traumatic or stressful event, leading to Criterion B, re-experience of the event in form of e.g., nightmares and flashbacks; Criterion C, avoidance of event-related stimuli; Criterion D, persistence of negative feelings and thoughts, e.g., about oneself or the world that began or worsened after the event; and Criterion E, trauma-related arousal and reactivity that began or worsened after the trauma, such as hyperarousal, risky behavior, or aggression. Symptom criteria have to be present for at least 1 month (Criterion F) and must significantly interfere with the patients' daily functioning (Criterion G).

Symptoms of PTSD after MI increase the risk of hospital readmission, recurrent MI and all-cause mortality () and are also associated with poor quality of life and general health, adverse health behaviors and medical comorbidities (). In addition, PTSD is associated with poor adherence with cardiac rehabilitation cardiac medication (; ).

Younger age, as well as helplessness, pain and fear of dying during MI (), lower educational level () and depressive symptoms () were shown to be predictive for PTSD symptoms in the first year after acute MI. Following the self-regulatory model (), illness recovery also depends on how patients view their illness and on their ability to cope with the new situation. Individuals are considered to master a threat to their health, such as acute MI, by developing their own appraisal, and determining subsequent coping procedures, which then modify illness outcome. The self-regulatory model integrates a constant feedback loop, where consequences of appraisal processes are fed back into the structure of illness perception and coping reactions. Illness perception has been described to consist of five cognitive components (causes of the illness, identity, consequences of the illness, time line and ways to control or cure the illness). Taken all five beliefs together, an illness schema is formed which determines how patients respond to their illness (;; ).

A number of studies have shown that illness perception predicts health behaviors (e.g., treatment adherence, functional outcomes) (,; ), may increase the risk of PTSD symptoms () and affect recovery from MI (;; ). Petrie et al. Showed that patients' perceptions of their MI had important effects on different aspects of recovery such as social interaction, recreational and sexual activity, resumption of work, and general domestic tasks (,; ). Furthermore, maladaptive negative cognitions about the consequences of acute MI, belief in a longer timeline of their condition, and lower cure and control beliefs, predicted depression (,). Recent research showed that MI patients' negative illness beliefs as well as anxiety in their spouses can be reduced by a brief illness perception intervention ().

The time after an acute MI was shown to be a period of vulnerability after which patients may not be able to return to normal functioning if they fail to successfully cope with the traumatic experience (;; ). There are two studies investigating the association between illness perception after an acute MI and PTSD symptoms (; ). In the present study we addressed this topic whereby focusing on patients with a high level of distress during MI, for whom adaptation to MI-related experiences may be particularly challenging. Download tattle tale game show free download.

Furthermore, we measured illness perception shortly, i.e., within 48 h, after MI. Our primary aim was to examine the predictive value of illness perception for the development of MI-induced PTSD symptoms at 3 months follow-up. We hypothesized that patients who perceive their MI with a high level of distress would show more self-rated and clinician-rated PTSD symptoms. The second aim was to identify the strongest associations of PTSD symptomatology with the different dimensions of illness perception. Finally, we aimed to examine if the association between illness perception and PTSD symptoms would be independent of demographic, psychological and medical variables as potential covariates. Methods Study Participants and Design The data for the present analysis was collected between January 2013 and March 2015. A total of 130 patients with acute MI, admitted to the coronary Care unit (CCU) of a tertiary university center (Bern University Hospital, Inselspital), were included in the Myocardial Infarction Stress Prevention Intervention (MI-SPRINT) randomized controlled trial ().