Sonya B Norman

• Ph.D.
• Professor (Full) at University of California, San Diego

Objective: The goals of the present study were to (a) examine change in rates of problem alcohol/substance use among a sample of veterans between their last year of military service and their first year following separation, (b) identify predictors of continued problem use in the first year after separation, and (c) evaluate the hypothesis that av...

Objective: This individual participant data meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy with a trauma focus (CBT-TF) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Furthermore, we examined the effect of moderators on PTSD symptom severity. Method: This study included randomized controlled trials comparing CBT-TF...

Patients with co-occurring chronic pain and PTSD are especially vulnerable to debilitating symptoms and frustrating experiences seeking healthcare. The complicated nature of the health conditions and their treatments present a challenge for providers to communicate their treatment recommendations and rationale. This qualitative study explored Veter...

Introduction The aim is to elucidate approaches to care for comorbid chronic pain and PTSD (CP + PTSD) in the Veterans Administration (VA). These conditions are co-magnifying and highly comorbid but traditionally treated in separate clinical settings. Materials and Methods This multimethod analysis examined care for CP + PTSD via administrative da...

Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) frequently co-occur. Prolonged exposure (PE) is an effective treatment for PTSD but shows smaller effects in patients with co-occurring AUD. Topiramate may help reduce alcohol use and PTSD symptoms. This double-blind, placebo-controlled outpatient clinical trial compare...

Background: Population-based data on the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and firearm ownership and storage practices in U.S. military veterans are scarce. Contemporary data may help inform violence prevention efforts. Methods: Data were analyzed from the 2022 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, which surveyed a n...

Moral injury affects a variety of populations who make ethically complex decisions involving their own and others’ well-being, including combat veterans, healthcare workers, and first responders. Yet little is known about occupational differences in the prevalence of morally injurious exposures and outcomes in nationally representative samples of s...

Purpose of Review As evidence accumulates for the pernicious effects of exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) on mental health, the need for improved measurement of moral injury has grown. This article summarizes the psychometric properties of scales that assess cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual concerns linked to PMIE...

Among individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 80–90% endorse one or more comorbid psychiatric disorders (Kessler et al., 1995). Comorbidity is associated with a more severe clinical and functional profile relative to a single disorder diagnosis (e.g., Norman et al., 2018; Bedard‐Gilligan et al., 2015). Fortunately, multiple clinical...

Background Available empirical evidence on participant-level factors associated with dropout from psychotherapies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is both limited and inconclusive. More comprehensive understanding of the various factors that contribute to study dropout from cognitive-behavioural therapy with a trauma focus (CBT-TF) is cruc...

This study examined mental health treatment nonutilization among sexual minority versus heterosexual Veterans with demonstrated psychiatric need. Data were analyzed from 820 Veterans with psychiatric need who participated in the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of U.S. military Vete...

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) co‐occur at high rates, with research showing that up to nearly 60% of individuals with PTSD also suffer from an alcohol and/or drug use disorder. PTSD/SUD is complex; associated with adverse health, social, and economic outcomes; and can be challenging to treat. Over the past...

Among veterans, there is a 7% lifetime prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Goldstein et al., 2016), with this diagnosis being linked to poor health and quality of life (Goldstein et al., 2016; Schnurr et al., 2009). Veterans with PTSD may present for treatment in a variety of health care settings, meaning that providers across all of...

Despite theory suggesting that self‐forgiveness facilitates recovery from moral injury, no measure of self‐forgiveness has been validated with individuals exposed to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). Military veterans, healthcare workers, and first responders who reported PMIE exposure (n = 924) completed the Self‐Forgiveness Dual‐Proce...

Despite the proliferation of moral injury studies, a remaining gap is distinguishing moral injury from normative distress following exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). Our goal was to leverage mental health and functional measures to identify clinically meaningful and functionally impairing moral injury using the Moral Injury...

Background Why do potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and substance use (SU) so commonly co‐occur during adolescence? Causal hypotheses developed from the study of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder (SUD) among adults have not yet been subject to rigorous theoretical analysis or empirical tests among adolescents with th...

Background Women are more likely to experience multiple overlapping pain conditions (MOPCs) relative to men. Post‐traumatic stress disorder can negatively impact the severity and trajectory of chronic pain and its treatment. Specific associations between gender, post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and MOPCs require further examination. Methods...

Description: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) worked together to revise the 2017 VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder. This article summarizes the 2023 clinical practice guideline (CPG) and its development process, focusing on as...

Background: Military sexual trauma (MST) and moral injury (MI) are associated with adverse psychiatric and health outcomes among military veterans. However, no known population-based studies have examined the incremental burden associated with the co-occurrence of these experiences relative to either alone. Method: Cross-sectional data were an...

Objective Trauma‐informed guilt reduction therapy (TrIGR), a six‐session cognitive behavioral therapy targeting trauma‐related guilt and distress, reduces guilt and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, yet little is known regarding how and why TrIGR may be effective. Method This study examined treatment‐related changes...

Background: Unsafe storage of firearms is associated with heightened risk of suicide among veterans. However, contemporary population-based data on the prevalence and correlates of firearm storage practices among veterans are limited. Methods: Data were from the 2022 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, a nationally representative sa...

A clinical practice guideline (CPG) is a rigorously established set of recommendations based on currently available evidence about the efficacy, safety, acceptability, and feasibility of interventions to assist with clinical decision‐making. The 2023 Department of Veterans Affairs /Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of...

We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analyses (NMA) of psychotherapy and pharmacologic treatments for individuals with co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol or other drug use disorder (AOD). A comprehensive search spanning 1995–2019 yielded a pool of 39 studies for systematic review, including 24 randomized cont...

Objective: Chronic pain can worsen PTSD symptomatology and may increase the risk of the prescription of multiple central nervous system (CNS)-active medications. The objective is to determine the impact of chronic pain on the number of CNS medications, including psychiatric medications, as well as the amount of medication changes. Methods: Veter...

Purpose of Review Healthcare workers (HCWs) may be exposed to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) while on the job and consequently experience acute, functional moral distress to prolonged, impairing moral injury. Recent Findings We reviewed 185 articles on moral distress and/or injury among HCWs. This included 91 empirical studies (appro...

Objective: Posttraumatic cognitions are a mechanism of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom reduction in trauma-focused interventions for PTSD. It is unclear how changes in posttraumatic cognitions are associated with important clinical correlates of PTSD, including drinking and psychosocial functioning. This study examined if changes in po...

Objective: The concept of moral injury resonates with impacted populations, but research has been limited by existing measures, which have primarily focused on war veterans and asked about exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) rather than PMIE exposure outcomes. Our goal was to develop and examine the psychometric properties of t...

Importance: Military deployment involves significant risk for life-threatening experiences that can lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Accurate predeployment prediction of PTSD risk may facilitate the development of targeted intervention strategies to enhance resilience. Objective: To develop and validate a machine learning (ML) model...

Importance: Concerns have been raised since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that vulnerable populations, such as military veterans, may be at increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). Objective: To examine longitudinal trends in STBs in US military veterans during the first 3 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design, setting, a...

This study examined sociodemographic, military, and trauma characteristics, and mental health concerns that differ by sexual orientation in a nationally representative sample of U.S. military veterans. Data were analyzed from 4069 veterans who participated in the National Health and Resilience Veterans Study (NHRVS). Compared with veterans who self...

Background Identification of genetic risk factors may inform the prevention and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study evaluates the associations of polygenic risk scores (PRS) with patterns of posttraumatic stress symptoms following combat deployment. Method US Army soldiers of European ancestry ( n = 4900) provided genomic...

Background: Self-report measures are important in substance use assessment, yet they are susceptible to reporting errors. Urine drug screens (UDS) are often considered a more valid alternative. However, collecting in-person UDS may not always be feasible, contributing to the need to understand factors that influence the validity of self-reported s...

Objective: To examine the prevalence, characteristics, and physical and mental health burden of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a nationally representative sample of U.S. military veterans. Methods: Data were analyzed from the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study (NHRVS), which surveyed a contemporary, nationally representativ...

Experiencing meaning in life may be particularly relevant following traumatic experiences as individuals who report meaning post trauma report less psychological distress. Engaging in avoidant coping, however, may be a sign of underlying psychological distress in the aftermath of traumatic experiences. We sought to examine associations among meanin...

Objective Symptom counts as the basis for Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnoses in the DSM presume each symptom is equally reflective of underlying disorder severity. However, the “equal weight” assumption fails to fit PTSD symptom data when tested. The present study developed an enhanced PTSD diagnosis based on (a) a conventional PTSD di...

Objective: Treatment efficacy for co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders is well established, yet direct evidence for comparative effectiveness across treatments is lacking. The present study compared the effectiveness of several behavioral and pharmacological therapies for adults with co-occurring PTSD and a...

Trauma‐informed beliefs often decrease during posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment. This may also extend to anxiety sensitivity (AS), defined as a fear of anxiety‐related sensations and beliefs that anxiety is dangerous and/or intolerable. However, little is known about how AS changes during exposure‐based and psychopharmacological PTSD t...

Background: Little is known about environmental factors that may influence associations between genetic liability to suicidality and suicidal behavior. Methods: This study examined whether a suicidality polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from a large genome-wide association study (N = 122,935) was associated with suicide attempts in a population...

Trauma-focused treatments — psychotherapies that focus on trauma as a central component of treatment and use cognitive, emotional or behavioural techniques to facilitate the processing of a traumatic experience — are first-line interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although trauma-focused interventions are effective in treating P...

Objective To examine the longitudinal associations between dimensions of COVID-19 pandemic-related moral distress (MD) and moral injury (MI)-related guilt in a large sample of frontline COVID-19 healthcare workers (FHCWs).Methods: Data from a diverse occupational cohort of 786 COVID-19 FHCWs were collected during the initial peak of the COVID-19 pa...

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and military sexual trauma (MST) are prevalent among veterans. Such exposures are associated with adverse mental-health sequelae, including elevated risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Nonetheless, prior studies have largely focused upon discrete experiences of CSA or MST in circumscribed samples. In the current s...

Trauma‐exposed veterans receiving mental health care may have an elevated risk of experiencing COVID‐19–related difficulties. Using data from several ongoing clinical trials (N = 458), this study examined exposure to COVID‐19–related stressors and their associations with key sociodemographic factors and mental health outcomes. The results showed th...

Background Questions persist about how often potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) are associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Methods This study examined the overlap of morally injurious events with probable PTSD and depression in a nationally representative sample of U.S. combat veterans (n = 1,321, mean age 5...

Objective Suicidal intent is a risk factor for engagement in suicidal behavior, use of violent means, and suicide mortality. Yet, scarce research has examined factors associated with suicidal intent among U.S. military veterans, a population at high risk for suicide. This study examined vulnerability factors associated with suicidal intent in a po...

Background Co-occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) is common and concurrent treatment is recommended. Relatively little is known about which evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD are most effective for patients with varying substance use profiles. We aim to examine the comparative effectiveness of...

Unresolved trauma-related guilt has been identified as a factor that can intensify posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD symptomology and is associated with many negative mental health outcomes. Evidence-based treatments, such as Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), have been shown to successfully reduce trauma-related guilt. However, less is known abo...

Purpose of Review The purpose of this review is to describe Trauma-Informed Guilt Reduction Therapy (TrIGR), the Non-Adaptive Guilt and Shame (NAGS) model that underlies TrIGR, and the research supporting the use of TrIGR to treat the guilt and shame components of moral injury. TriGR is a 6-session individual psychotherapy that helps clients consid...

Background Dispositional gratitude has been implicated as a psychological characteristic that may modulate risk for mental health outcomes. Using a population-based sample of U.S. military veterans, this study evaluated the association between dispositional gratitude and the development of psychopathology and suicidal behaviors over a 7-year period...

Loneliness was deemed a behavioral epidemic even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent social distancing policy measures have raised concerns about increased social isolation and loneliness, especially in vulnerable populations such as military veterans. However, little is known about the impact of the pandemic on...

Background Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is heritable and a potential consequence of exposure to traumatic stress. Evidence suggests that a quantitative approach to PTSD phenotype measurement and incorporation of lifetime trauma exposure (LTE) information could enhance the discovery power of PTSD genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Meth...

Many individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) report increased negative affect (NA) and decreased positive affect (PA). Little is known about whether treatments for PTSD improve PA. We conducted a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial comparing integrated exposure therapy (I-PE) to integrated coping skills therapy (I-CS) fo...

In randomized control trials (RCTs), a focus on average differences between treatment arms often limits our understanding of whether individuals show clinically significant improvement or deterioration. The present study examined differences in individual-level clinical significance trajectories between Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and Substance Us...

Cannabis use is common among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, but its impact on psychiatric symptoms and functioning in this population is unclear. To clarify the clinical and functional correlates of cannabis use in individuals with PTSD symptoms, we analyzed data from the 2019–2020 National Health and Resilience in...

Suicide is a major public health problem in U.S. military veterans, but little is known about factors associated with remission from suicide attempts in this population. We aimed to identify risk and protective correlates of remission from suicidal thoughts and behavior (STB) in U.S. veterans with a prior suicide attempt. Data were analyzed from th...

Background The reported prevalence of military sexual trauma (MST) has increased over the past decades in the United States, yet scarce population-based studies have examined the prevalence, correlates, and health burden of MST in the general veteran population. Methods Data were from the 2019–2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study,...

Multiple factor analytic and item response theory studies have shown that items/symptoms vary in their relative clinical weights in structured interview measures for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite these findings, the use of total scores, which treat symptoms as though they are equally weighted, predominates in practice, with the cons...

Introduction Trauma‐related guilt is common, associated with posttraumatic mental health problems, and can persist after posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment. We compared the efficacy of two six‐session psychotherapies, Trauma‐Informed Guilt Reduction (TrIGR) and Supportive Care Therapy (SCT), for reducing trauma‐related guilt. TrIGR help...

Posttraumatic negative thoughts about one's self and the world are related to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity and change in cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT), but little is known about this association when CBT is delivered with medication. The current study presents a planned comparison of changes in negative posttraumatic...

We calculated the reliable change index (RCI) and clinically significant change (CSC) values for two widely used measures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) and the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) and examined how symptom changes at these thresholds related to improvements in psychosoc...

Background/objective: The present study leveraged the expertise of an international group of posttraumatic stress and substance use disorder (PTSD+SUD) intervention researchers to identify which methods of categorizing interventions which target SUD, PTSD, or PTSD+SUD for populations with both PTSD+SUD may be optimal for advancing future systemati...

Background: Population-based data on risk factors for suicide attempts among veterans remains limited. Methods: A national probability sample of 2307 veterans was followed over the course of four timepoints spanning seven years to examine how a range of baseline risk factors predict incident suicide attempt. Suicide attempt data were aggregated in...

Background Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a prevalent public health concern in the U.S. that disproportionately affects veterans relative to civilians. Given changes to the demographic composition of the veteran population and AUD diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5, updated knowledge regarding the epidemiology of DSM-5 AUD in a national sample of vete...

Background: Despite progress in youth anxiety assessment, there is need for a measure that is simultaneously (a) free, (b) brief, (c) focused broadly on anxiety and avoidance severity, frequency, and interference, and (d) concerned with the past week. The adult Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS) was adapted to yield a caregiver-...

Objective: Psychiatric and substance use disorders are prevalent among U.S. military veterans, yet many veterans do not engage in treatment. The authors examined characteristics associated with use of mental health care in a nationally representative veteran sample. Methods: Using 2019-2020 data from the National Health and Resilience in Veteran...

Introduction This study investigated the role of coping strategies in mediating the relationship between the 7-factor model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and alcohol misuse in veterans. Methods Data were analyzed from 615 veterans from a nationally representative study of U.S. veterans who met criteria for probable full or subth...

A substantial body of evidence supports the use of integrated treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Integrated trauma-focused exposure therapies reduce PTSD symptoms more than comparison treatments, including integrated coping skills therapies, but demonstrate lower attendance, raising questions regardi...

Background To evaluate the prevalence of lifetime non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI) among US military veterans and identify sociodemographic, military, psychiatric and clinical correlates associated with NSSI. Methods Data were analysed from the 2019–2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, a contemporary, nationally representative sur...

Background: Improvement in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with better health behavior such as better medication adherence and greater use of nutrition and weight loss programs. However, it is not known if reducing PTSD severity is associated with smoking cessation, a poor health behavior common in patients with PTSD. Methods:...

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is often comorbid with both substance use disorders (SUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated. We present data on the feasibility and acceptability of objective OSA diagnosis procedures, findings on OSA prevalence, and the relationship between OSA and base...

Importance The COVID-19 pandemic has raised considerable concerns about increased risk for suicidal behavior among US military veterans, who already had elevated rates of suicide before the pandemic. Objective To examine longitudinal changes in suicidal behavior from before the COVID-19 pandemic to nearly 10 months into the pandemic and identify r...

Background Exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) is associated with increased risk for substance use disorders (SUDs), although population-based studies remain limited. The goal of this study was to better understand the relationships between PMIE exposure and lifetime and past-year alcohol use disorder (AUD), drug use disorder (...

Objective: US military veterans have high rates of suicide relative to civilians. However, little is known about the prevalence and correlates of suicidal behaviors in the general US veteran population. Methods: Data were from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, a representative survey of US veterans conducted in 2019-2020 (n = 4...

Objective Several vulnerability factors for suicidal behavior in U.S. veterans have been identified. However, little is known about factors that differentiate veterans who contemplate suicide from those who attempt suicide. This study examined sociodemographic and clinical characteristics that distinguish veterans who think about suicide from those...

The onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic disrupted many aspects of daily life and required a rapid and unprecedented shift in psychotherapy delivery from in‐person to telemental health. In the present study, we explored the impact of the pandemic on individuals’ ability to participate in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) psychotherapy and the associat...

Introduction: Little is known about the relationship between moral distress and mental health problems. We examined moral distress in 2579 frontline healthcare workers (FHCWs) caring for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients during the height of the spring 2020 pandemic surge in New York City. The goals of the study were to identify common...

Background Substance use is a strong risk factor for suicidal behavior. To date, however, no known study has evaluated optimal cut-off scores on substance use severity measures to identify individuals who may be at elevated risk for suicide. Methods Data were analyzed from the 2019–2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, which surve...

Co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder (PTSD/AUD) is associated with poorer psychosocial functioning than either disorder alone; however, it is unclear if psychosocial functioning improves in treatment for PTSD/AUD. This study examined if psychosocial functioning improved in integrated treatments for PTSD/AUD, and if ch...

Objective: This study aimed to characterize the current prevalence of loneliness, and the relation between loneliness severity and psychiatric and physical health conditions, suicidality, and functional measures in a predominantly older sample of U.S. military veterans. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the National Health and Resi...

Objective: The co-occurrence of substance use disorders (SUD) and trauma-exposure is a risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB). However, traditional methods of measurement for suicidal thoughts and behaviors are limited by an overreliance on dichotomous (i.e., yes or no) and averaged/summed scale score measurements. Further, among tra...

Objective: The current study is an analysis of predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment response in a clinical trial comparing (1) prolonged exposure plus placebo (PE + PLB), (2) PE + sertraline (PE + SERT), and (3) sertraline + enhanced medication management (SERT + EMM) with predictors including time since trauma (TST), self-r...

Background The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused myriad health, social, and economic stressors. To date, however, no known study has examined changes in mental health during the pandemic in the U.S. military veteran population. Methods Data were analyzed from the 2019–2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, a n...

Background and Objectives Reduction of trauma related negative cognitions, such as guilt, is thought to be a mechanism of change within PTSD treatments like prolonged exposure (PE). Research suggests PE can directly address guilt cognitions. However, whether pharmacotherapies for PTSD can remains unclear. Methods Data from a randomized controlled...

OBJECTIVE Veterans with a history of multiple suicide attempts are at increased risk for suicide mortality relative to those with a single attempt. However, little is known about factors that differentiate veterans who attempt suicide once compared to more than once. This study examined factors that distinguish single suicide attempters (SSA) from...

Background There have been reports of increased alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic in the general population. However, little is known about the impact of the pandemic on the prevalence of alcohol use disorder (AUD), especially in high-risk samples such as U.S. military veterans. Methods Data were analyzed from the 2019-2020 National...

This paper describes Project Harmony, a Virtual Clinical Trial (VCT) funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to harmonize and analyze data from over 40 independent psychological, pharmacologic and/or combined pharmacological treatment studies for posttraumatic stress disorder and comorbid alcohol and other drug use...

Poor sleep quality is common among Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and history of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the relationship between sleep quality and treatment outcomes following trauma-focused interventions is less well-understood in this population. We sought to better understand whether 1) sleep quality changed a...