ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre

The significance of moral conflicts that emerge during traumatic events and their influence on posttraumatic stress (PTS) and related symptoms are increasingly recognised. However, characteristics of the memories of these conflicts and how central these memories are within autobiographical memory remain largely unclear. In this study, students recalling trauma memories with a moral conflict were compared to students whose trauma memories did not include a moral conflict, in terms of the event-centrality of the trauma memory, memory characteristics, current emotional distress, and PTS.

Dispositional mindfulness plays a crucial role in predicting psychological symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress (PTS). Prior research has shown that emotion regulation (ER) mediated this association. However, a variable-centred approach was typically used, possibly overlooking the heterogeneity in ER strategies among individuals.

Background: Participating in observational trauma-related research can be emotionally burdensome but is generally evaluated as positive. However, whether this burden negatively affects the response at follow-ups, leading to biased outcomes, has received very little attention so far.

Objective: The aim of the present prospective study is to better understand the extent to which the emotional burden of participating in a trauma-related survey negatively affects the response at subsequent surveys.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in later life poses a substantial burden on public health and social care systems.
However, research in this population remains scarce. In this Personal View, we review the current state of research on PTSD and ageing, as presented by the On Traumatic Stress and Ageing: A Global Network task force, part of the
Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress. Evidence-based knowledge on PTSD in older (aged 60 years or older) trauma survivors was synthesised across four clinical domains: ageing mechanisms, assessment, treatment, and care.

Objectives: The current study examined temporal associations between cultural identity conflict and psychological symptoms (posttraumatic stress [PTS] and anxiety/depression) in Syrian young adults, who recently migrated to the Netherlands. It was hypothesized that cultural identity conflict predicts intraindividual changes in PTS and anxiety/depression symptoms, in a course of one year, adjusting for trait-like stable invariant levels of both constructs.

Exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) during military deployment is common and may lead to long-lasting negative psychological consequences, referred to as moral injury. Few studies investigated long-term outcomes following exposure to PMIEs.

Background: A proportion of Dutch World War Two (WWII) survivor offspring reports intrusions about a war they have not experienced themselves. Knowledge about the content of these intrusions may provide an in-depth understanding of the themes impacting the mental health of offspring and the intergenerational consequences of parental traumatic WWII events. Therefore, this study used a qualitative approach to examine the core themes of indirect intrusions reported by survivor offspring.

During peacekeeping missions, military personnel may be exposed to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). Little is known about how these PMIEs and their impact are experienced by peacekeepers themselves. In 1995, the Dutchbat III peacekeeping mission in Srebrenica, Bosnia, was unable to prevent mass ethnic violence and genocide. This study of military veterans of the Dutchbat III mission focused on the question of how they perceived their mission, the societal response to the mission, and its impact 25 years after its completion.

Introduction: Current guidelines recommend trauma-focused therapies for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Unfortunately, the percentage of non-response and dropout with these forms of therapy has proven to be substantial. Trauma-focused therapies offered in a highly intensive format have been found to lead to higher adherence and faster symptom reduction, but no studies so far have investigated Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) in an intensive programme.

Background: Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in refugees is higher compared to the general population, and barriers in accessing mental health care are often experienced. With staggering numbers of people seeking refuge around the world, and 40% being 18 years or younger, effective trauma-focused therapies for refugee children with PTSD are highly needed.