ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre

Following the death of a loved one, both approach behaviors related to the deceased (i.e., engagement with feelings, memories, and/or reminders of the deceased) and the avoidance of reminders of the death are theorized to precipitate severe and persistent grief reactions, termed prolonged grief. The “approach-avoidance processing hypothesis” holds that these behavioral tendencies occur simultaneously in prolonged grief disorder (PGD). We tested this hypothesis using a novel free-viewing attention task.

Objective
To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the Global Psychotrauma Screen (GPS).

Methods
The scale was tested on two Internet-based samples: GPS-CCC (n = 657) and GPS-Brazil (n = 431). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on GPS-CCC. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlational analysis and sensitivity and specificity analysis were performed on the GPS-Brazil sample.

Introduction: Information regarding the prevalence of potentially traumatic events (PTEs), DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and ICD-11 complex PTSD (CPTSD) in the Netherlands is currently lacking, as is data on treatment uptake and treatment barriers. We aimed to provide prevalence estimates for potentially traumatic events, PTSD and CPTSD in the Netherlands, describe treatment seeking behavior and explore associated risk factors.

Objective: In their work, police officers are routinely exposed to potentially traumatic events, some of which may also be morally distressing. Moral injury refers to the multidimensional impact of exposure to such potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). Mainly originating from a military context, there is little empirical research on moral injury in policing. The aim of this study was to gain insight into what PMIEs and moral injury in police officers entail.

An increasing number of studies have been investigating the co-occurrence of posttraumatic symptoms and dissociation in trauma-exposed samples. As traumatized refugees are particularly susceptible to developing posttraumatic stress  disorder (PTSD), the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between PTSD and dissociation in a traumatized refugee sample. 

There is an increasing need for mental health care to adapt assessment and treatment to cultural and social variety of populations. If cultural factors are not properly assessed, patients may receive an incorrect diagnosis, or the severity of their condition may be misjudged (1). Further, a lack of clinicians’ cultural sensitivity can create communication barriers leading to a patient’s breakdown of trust in the therapeutic process and a hesitancy to communicate important information (2).

COVID-19 may pose a mental health risk to funeral service workers (FSWs). In this cross-sectional survey, 278 Dutch FSWs were assessed three months after the acute phase of the pandemic ended. The FSWs reported on burnout symptoms (BAT-12), work engagement (UWES-9), wellbeing (MHC-SF) mental health indicators, and retrospectively on work stress and perceived support during the acute phase of the pandemic. Data-analyses included descriptive statistics and linear regression. Mental health scores were compared with norm scores.

Introduction: Improved effectiveness and treatment adherence is needed in smoking cessation (SC) therapies. Another important challenge is to disrupt maladaptive drug-related memories. To achieve these goals, we developed a novel treatment strategy on the basis of motion-assisted memory desensitization and reprocessing (3MDR).

Background: Perceiving that society disregards grief after pregnancy loss (disenfranchised grief) elevates bereaved parents’ psychological burden.

Objective: In this research, we aimed to compare the disenfranchisement of pregnancy loss with four other loss types considering the bereaved’s gender.

A minority of bereaved adults experiences prolonged grief disorder, depression, and/or posttraumatic stress disorder, with heightened risks observed among bereaved parents. Cognitive-behavioural therapies, both face-to-face and online, have demonstrated efficacy in treating post-loss mental health problems. Mobile phone applications potentially offer an efficient and cost-effective way to deliver self-help to bereaved adults, yet controlled effectiveness studies are lacking.