Social support and (complex) posttraumatic stress symptom severity : does gender matter?

Background: Perceived social support is an established predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after exposure to a traumatic event. Gender is an important factor that could differentiate responses to social support, yet this has been little explored. Symptoms of complex PTSD are also common following trauma but have been under-researched in this context. Large scale studies with culturally diverse samples are particularly lacking.

 

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Trauma concepts in research and practice : An Overview

Trauma is a key concept in many fields of psychology and medicine. Different understandings of trauma are at play here, which are sometimes blurred and usually have little relation to each other. In order to provide orientation in the discussion and to contribute to a reflected use of the concept of trauma in research and practice, this book presents central - clinical, psychosocial, transgenerational and collective - trauma concepts and demonstrates their significance in selected therapeutic, institutional, research and socio-political fields of practice by means of case studies. 

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Expert international trauma clinicians’ views on the definition, composition and delivery of reintegration interventions for complex PTSD

Background: Research has previously distinguished between complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) and PTSD, with the former including a range of disturbances in self-regulatory capacities in addition to difficulties associated with PTSD. Clinical guidelines have previously recommended a phase-based approach for the treatment of CPTSD, yet the final ‘reintegration’ phase of treatment has been overlooked in research, with limited evidence into its value and effectiveness, and inconsistencies in its definitions and understanding.

 

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Appeasement : replacing Stockholm syndrome as a definition of a survival strategy

Background: Stockholm syndrome or traumatic bonding (Painter & Dutton, Patterns of emotional bonding in battered women: Traumatic bonding. International Journal of Women’s Studies, 8(4), 363–375, 1985) has been used in mainstream culture, legal, and some clinical settings to describe a hypothetical phenomenon of trauma survivors developing powerful emotional attachments to their abuser.

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The relationship between childhood abuse and severity of psychosis is mediated by loneliness: an experience sampling study

Background: This study tested the hypotheses that (i) the relationship between a history of childhood abuse and severity of psychosis is mediated by loneliness; (ii) the relationship between loneliness and psychosis is mediated by within-person fluctuations in depressive and anxious feelings. Methods: Fifty-nine individuals with non-affective psychotic disorder rated the intensity of loneliness, positive symptoms, and depressive and anxious feelings during repeated moments in daily life (Experience Sampling Method).

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Culturally Sensitive Approaches to Finding Meaning in Traumatic Bereavement

Traumatic events such as disasters, accidents, war, or criminal violence are often accompanied by the loss of loved ones. Traumatic grief following the loss of loved ones due to violent circumstances may occur in people surviving cultural conflicts as well as profession related risks. Traumatic grief can be conceptualized as a combination of traumatic distress and separation distress following an unnatural, violent loss.

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Efficacy of an Internet-based cognitive-behavioural grief therapy for people bereaved by suicide : a randomized controlled trial

Background: The loss of a loved one due to suicide can be a traumatic event associated with prolonged grief and psychological distress.

 

Objective: This study examined the efficacy of an Internet-based cognitive-behavioural grief therapy (ICBGT) specifically for people bereaved by suicide.

 

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Impact of hazardous alcohol use on intensive PTSD treatment outcomes among veterans

Background: Intensive treatment programmes (ITPs) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) produce large symptom reductions and have generally higher completion rates compared to traditional weekly care. Although ITPs do not appear to increase substance use, it has yet to be determined whether their effectiveness differs for veterans with and without hazardous alcohol use (HAU).

 

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Effectiveness of an intensive treatment programme combining prolonged exposure and EMDR therapy for adolescents suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder

Background: Following promising effects of an intensive trauma treatment for adults, the question arises whether adolescents who suffer from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can also profit from a similar treatment programme.

 

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of an intensive trauma-focused treatment programme combining two evidence-based trauma-focused therapies and physical activities for adolescents suffering from severe PTSD.

 

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Childhood trauma and bullying-victimization as an explanation for differences in mental disorders by sexual orientation

Sexual minority individuals are more likely to have mental disorders, including mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders, compared to heterosexual individuals. Whether experiencing trauma or bullying-victimization during childhood explains these differences is currently unclear. We used a psychiatric epidemiological general population-based study to assess whether childhood trauma severity and bullying-victimization before age 16 explains the difference by sexual attraction in mental disorders.

 

 

 

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