Scholars@Duke
Jennifer J. Runnals

Jennifer J. Runnals

Medical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Psychiatry, Child & Family Mental Health & Community Psychiatry
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Selected Publications

In-person and telehealth treatment of veterans with insomnia disorder using cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Journal Article J Clin Sleep Med · July 1, 2023 STUDY OBJECTIVES: Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended first-line treatment for insomnia disorder. The goal of this study was to evaluate clinical benefits of CBT-I to veterans with insomnia disorder during the early months ... Full text Link to item Cite

Creating a Practice-Based Implementation Network: Facilitating Practice Change Across Health Care Systems.

Journal Article J Behav Health Serv Res · October 2020 A proof-of-concept practice-based implementation network was developed in the US Departments of Veteran Affairs (VA) and Defense to increase the speed of implementation of mental health practices, derive lessons learned prior to larger-scale implementation ... Full text Link to item Cite

Threat-induced anxiety during goal pursuit disrupts amygdala-prefrontal cortex connectivity in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Journal Article Transl Psychiatry · February 10, 2020 To investigate how unpredictable threat during goal pursuit impacts fronto-limbic activity and functional connectivity in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we compared military veterans with PTSD (n = 25) vs. trauma-exposed control (n = 25). Participan ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationship between traumatic brain injury history and recent suicidal ideation in Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans.

Journal Article Psychol Serv · May 2019 This study evaluated whether a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) was associated with increased risk for recent suicidal ideation (SI) after accounting for demographics, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and sleep quality. In terms of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Behavioral and Health Outcomes Associated With Deployment and Nondeployment Acquisition of Traumatic Brain Injury in Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans.

Journal Article Arch Phys Med Rehabil · December 2018 OBJECTIVE: To characterize behavioral and health outcomes in veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) acquired in nondeployment and deployment settings. DESIGN: Cross-sectional assessment evaluating TBI acquired during and outside of deployment, mental a ... Full text Link to item Cite

A learning collaborative model for implementation of smoking cessation among homeless veterans

Journal Article Journal of Smoking Cessation · September 1, 2018 We evaluated the feasibility of incorporating integrated care (IC) for smoking cessation into routine care for homeless veterans at seven Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers and the utility of the learning collaborative (LC) model in facili ... Full text Cite

Psychosocial Risk Factors and Other Than Honorable Military Discharge: Providing Healthcare to Previously Ineligible Veterans.

Journal Article Mil Med · September 1, 2018 INTRODUCTION: In response to a strong focus on suicide prevention for all veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently revised policy to provide emergency mental healthcare for veterans who received Other Than Honorable (OTH) discharges from ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Association Between Alcohol Consumption, Lifetime Alcohol Use Disorder, and Psychiatric Distress Among Male and Female Veterans.

Journal Article J Stud Alcohol Drugs · July 2018 OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine among veterans (a) whether alcohol consumption patterns are associated with probability of psychiatric symptoms and (b) whether an alcohol use disorder (AUD) history explains psychiatric symptoms among nondrinkers. ME ... Full text Link to item Cite

Risk factors for concurrent suicidal ideation and violent impulses in military veterans.

Journal Article Psychol Assess · April 2018 Suicide and violence are significant problems in a subset of Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans. This study investigates how posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and resilience in veterans are associated with suicidal ideation and violent impulses while control ... Full text Link to item Cite

Brain Structural Covariance Network Topology in Remitted Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Journal Article Front Psychiatry · 2018 Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent, chronic disorder with high psychiatric morbidity; however, a substantial portion of affected individuals experience remission after onset. Alterations in brain network topology derived from cortical thic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Exploring resilience models in a sample of combat-exposed military service members and veterans: a comparison and commentary.

Journal Article Eur J Psychotraumatol · 2018 Background: The term resilience is applied in numerous ways in the mental health field, leading to different perspectives of what constitutes a resilient response and disparate findings regarding its prevalence following trauma. Objective: illustrate the i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sleep quality in returning veterans: The influence of mild traumatic brain injury.

Journal Article Rehabil Psychol · November 2017 OBJECTIVE: Sleep disturbance is a key behavioral health concern among Iraq and Afghanistan era veterans and is a frequent complaint among veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Currently, it is unclear whether sleep disturbance is a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Self-Reported Pain in Male and Female Iraq/Afghanistan-Era Veterans: Associations with Psychiatric Symptoms and Functioning.

Journal Article Pain Med · September 1, 2017 OBJECTIVE: To examine pain symptoms and co-occurring psychiatric and functional indices in male and female Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans. DESIGN: Self-reported data collection and interviews of Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans who participated in a multisite ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cigarette Smoking and Musculoskeletal Pain Severity Among Male and Female Afghanistan/Iraq Era Veterans.

Journal Article Pain Med · September 1, 2017 OBJECTIVE: Cigarette smoking and musculoskeletal pain are prevalent among Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system users. These conditions frequently co-occur; however, there is limited empirical information specific to Afghanistan/Iraq era v ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sexual revictimization among Iraq and Afghanistan war era veterans.

Journal Article Psychiatry Res · June 30, 2016 Research in both civilian and military populations has demonstrated that females who experience childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are more likely to experience sexual assault in adulthood than females who did not experience CSA. Among veteran samples, however, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Subthreshold posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analytic review of DSM-IV prevalence and a proposed DSM-5 approach to measurement.

Journal Article Psychol Trauma · March 2016 Subthreshold posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic condition that is often ignored, the cumulative effects of which can negatively impact an individual's quality of life and overall health care costs. However, subthreshold PTSD prevalence rates ... Full text Link to item Cite

An exploratory pilot investigation of neurosteroids and self-reported pain in female Iraq/Afghanistan-era Veterans.

Journal Article J Rehabil Res Dev · 2016 Female Veterans are the most rapidly growing segment of new users of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and a significant proportion of female Veterans receiving treatment from VHA primary care providers report persistent pain symptoms. Currently, a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Functional correlates of military sexual assault in male veterans.

Journal Article Psychol Serv · November 2015 Despite research findings that similar numbers of male and female veterans are affected by military sexual trauma (MST), there has been considerably less research on the effects of MST specific to male veterans. The aim of the present study was to provide ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effect of genetic variation in the nicotinic receptor genes on risk for posttraumatic stress disorder.

Journal Article Psychiatry Res · September 30, 2015 The present study examined the association between genetic variation in the nicotinic receptor gene family (CHRNA2, CHRNA3, CHRNA4, CHRNA5, CHRNA6, CHRNA7, CHRNA9, CHRNA10, CHRNB2, CHRNB3, CHRNB4) and the occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). ... Full text Link to item Cite

Drug use and childhood-, military- and post-military trauma exposure among women and men veterans.

Journal Article Drug Alcohol Depend · July 1, 2015 BACKGROUND: The current study was undertaken to examine whether posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and depressive symptoms mediated the association between trauma exposure (combat-related trauma and non-combat traumas occurring before, during, and after ... Full text Link to item Cite

In-person and telehealth treatment of veterans with insomnia disorder using cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Journal Article J Clin Sleep Med · July 1, 2023 STUDY OBJECTIVES: Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended first-line treatment for insomnia disorder. The goal of this study was to evaluate clinical benefits of CBT-I to veterans with insomnia disorder during the early months ... Full text Link to item Cite

Creating a Practice-Based Implementation Network: Facilitating Practice Change Across Health Care Systems.

Journal Article J Behav Health Serv Res · October 2020 A proof-of-concept practice-based implementation network was developed in the US Departments of Veteran Affairs (VA) and Defense to increase the speed of implementation of mental health practices, derive lessons learned prior to larger-scale implementation ... Full text Link to item Cite

Threat-induced anxiety during goal pursuit disrupts amygdala-prefrontal cortex connectivity in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Journal Article Transl Psychiatry · February 10, 2020 To investigate how unpredictable threat during goal pursuit impacts fronto-limbic activity and functional connectivity in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we compared military veterans with PTSD (n = 25) vs. trauma-exposed control (n = 25). Participan ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationship between traumatic brain injury history and recent suicidal ideation in Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans.

Journal Article Psychol Serv · May 2019 This study evaluated whether a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) was associated with increased risk for recent suicidal ideation (SI) after accounting for demographics, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and sleep quality. In terms of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Behavioral and Health Outcomes Associated With Deployment and Nondeployment Acquisition of Traumatic Brain Injury in Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans.

Journal Article Arch Phys Med Rehabil · December 2018 OBJECTIVE: To characterize behavioral and health outcomes in veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) acquired in nondeployment and deployment settings. DESIGN: Cross-sectional assessment evaluating TBI acquired during and outside of deployment, mental a ... Full text Link to item Cite

A learning collaborative model for implementation of smoking cessation among homeless veterans

Journal Article Journal of Smoking Cessation · September 1, 2018 We evaluated the feasibility of incorporating integrated care (IC) for smoking cessation into routine care for homeless veterans at seven Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers and the utility of the learning collaborative (LC) model in facili ... Full text Cite

Psychosocial Risk Factors and Other Than Honorable Military Discharge: Providing Healthcare to Previously Ineligible Veterans.

Journal Article Mil Med · September 1, 2018 INTRODUCTION: In response to a strong focus on suicide prevention for all veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently revised policy to provide emergency mental healthcare for veterans who received Other Than Honorable (OTH) discharges from ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Association Between Alcohol Consumption, Lifetime Alcohol Use Disorder, and Psychiatric Distress Among Male and Female Veterans.

Journal Article J Stud Alcohol Drugs · July 2018 OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine among veterans (a) whether alcohol consumption patterns are associated with probability of psychiatric symptoms and (b) whether an alcohol use disorder (AUD) history explains psychiatric symptoms among nondrinkers. ME ... Full text Link to item Cite

Risk factors for concurrent suicidal ideation and violent impulses in military veterans.

Journal Article Psychol Assess · April 2018 Suicide and violence are significant problems in a subset of Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans. This study investigates how posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and resilience in veterans are associated with suicidal ideation and violent impulses while control ... Full text Link to item Cite

Brain Structural Covariance Network Topology in Remitted Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Journal Article Front Psychiatry · 2018 Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent, chronic disorder with high psychiatric morbidity; however, a substantial portion of affected individuals experience remission after onset. Alterations in brain network topology derived from cortical thic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Exploring resilience models in a sample of combat-exposed military service members and veterans: a comparison and commentary.

Journal Article Eur J Psychotraumatol · 2018 Background: The term resilience is applied in numerous ways in the mental health field, leading to different perspectives of what constitutes a resilient response and disparate findings regarding its prevalence following trauma. Objective: illustrate the i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sleep quality in returning veterans: The influence of mild traumatic brain injury.

Journal Article Rehabil Psychol · November 2017 OBJECTIVE: Sleep disturbance is a key behavioral health concern among Iraq and Afghanistan era veterans and is a frequent complaint among veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Currently, it is unclear whether sleep disturbance is a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Self-Reported Pain in Male and Female Iraq/Afghanistan-Era Veterans: Associations with Psychiatric Symptoms and Functioning.

Journal Article Pain Med · September 1, 2017 OBJECTIVE: To examine pain symptoms and co-occurring psychiatric and functional indices in male and female Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans. DESIGN: Self-reported data collection and interviews of Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans who participated in a multisite ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cigarette Smoking and Musculoskeletal Pain Severity Among Male and Female Afghanistan/Iraq Era Veterans.

Journal Article Pain Med · September 1, 2017 OBJECTIVE: Cigarette smoking and musculoskeletal pain are prevalent among Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system users. These conditions frequently co-occur; however, there is limited empirical information specific to Afghanistan/Iraq era v ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sexual revictimization among Iraq and Afghanistan war era veterans.

Journal Article Psychiatry Res · June 30, 2016 Research in both civilian and military populations has demonstrated that females who experience childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are more likely to experience sexual assault in adulthood than females who did not experience CSA. Among veteran samples, however, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Subthreshold posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analytic review of DSM-IV prevalence and a proposed DSM-5 approach to measurement.

Journal Article Psychol Trauma · March 2016 Subthreshold posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic condition that is often ignored, the cumulative effects of which can negatively impact an individual's quality of life and overall health care costs. However, subthreshold PTSD prevalence rates ... Full text Link to item Cite

An exploratory pilot investigation of neurosteroids and self-reported pain in female Iraq/Afghanistan-era Veterans.

Journal Article J Rehabil Res Dev · 2016 Female Veterans are the most rapidly growing segment of new users of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and a significant proportion of female Veterans receiving treatment from VHA primary care providers report persistent pain symptoms. Currently, a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Functional correlates of military sexual assault in male veterans.

Journal Article Psychol Serv · November 2015 Despite research findings that similar numbers of male and female veterans are affected by military sexual trauma (MST), there has been considerably less research on the effects of MST specific to male veterans. The aim of the present study was to provide ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effect of genetic variation in the nicotinic receptor genes on risk for posttraumatic stress disorder.

Journal Article Psychiatry Res · September 30, 2015 The present study examined the association between genetic variation in the nicotinic receptor gene family (CHRNA2, CHRNA3, CHRNA4, CHRNA5, CHRNA6, CHRNA7, CHRNA9, CHRNA10, CHRNB2, CHRNB3, CHRNB4) and the occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). ... Full text Link to item Cite

Drug use and childhood-, military- and post-military trauma exposure among women and men veterans.

Journal Article Drug Alcohol Depend · July 1, 2015 BACKGROUND: The current study was undertaken to examine whether posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and depressive symptoms mediated the association between trauma exposure (combat-related trauma and non-combat traumas occurring before, during, and after ... Full text Link to item Cite

The factor structure of psychiatric comorbidity among Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans and its relationship to violence, incarceration, suicide attempts, and suicidality.

Journal Article Psychiatry Res · December 15, 2014 The present research examined how incarceration, suicide attempts, suicidality, and difficulty controlling violence relate to the underlying factor structure of psychiatric comorbidity among a large sample of Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans (N=1897). Diagnos ... Full text Link to item Cite

DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder: factor structure and rates of diagnosis.

Journal Article J Psychiatr Res · December 2014 Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant problem among Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans. To date, however, there has been only limited research on how the recent changes in DSM-5 influence the prevalence and factor structure of PTSD. To address t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Systematic review of women veterans' mental health.

Journal Article Womens Health Issues · 2014 BACKGROUND: Given recent, rapid growth in the field of women veterans' mental health, the goal of this review was to update the status of women veterans' mental health research and to identify current themes in this literature. The scope of this review inc ... Full text Link to item Cite

Altered resting-state functional connectivity of basolateral and centromedial amygdala complexes in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Journal Article Neuropsychopharmacology · January 2014 The amygdala is a major structure that orchestrates defensive reactions to environmental threats and is implicated in hypervigilance and symptoms of heightened arousal in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The basolateral and centromedial amygdala (CMA) ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Lifetime major depression and comorbid disorders among current-era women veterans.

Journal Article J Affect Disord · January 2014 BACKGROUND: Most research on women veterans' mental health has focused on postraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or reactions to military sexual trauma. Although depression is also a frequent diagnosis among women veterans, little is known about its character ... Full text Link to item Cite

Alcohol use and trauma exposure among male and female veterans before, during, and after military service.

Journal Article Drug Alcohol Depend · December 1, 2013 BACKGROUND: The present study examined lifespan and combat-related trauma exposure as predictors of alcohol use among male and female veterans. Posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms were examined as mediators of the effects of trauma exposure on alc ... Full text Link to item Cite

Self-reported pain complaints among Afghanistan/Iraq era men and women veterans with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder.

Journal Article Pain Med · October 2013 OBJECTIVE: Research has shown significant rates of comorbidity among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and pain in prior era veterans but less is known about these disorders in Iraq and Afghanistan war era veterans. Thi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Childhood trauma exposure in Iraq and Afghanistan war era veterans: implications for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and adult functional social support.

Journal Article Child Abuse Negl · May 2012 OBJECTIVE: This study examined the relationship among childhood trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and adult social support in a large sample of veterans who served in the military after 09/11/2001, with a specific focus on the potentia ... Full text Link to item Cite