When we try to cope with stressful or challenging situations, our ability to regulate our responses towards these events is crucial. The general aim of this thesis was to investigate the role of prefrontal control over approach-avoidance tendencies in explaining individual differences in stress vulnerability and emotional responsivity. The large NWO-subsidized prospective longitudinal Police-In-Action (PIA) study enabled me to address this question in early-career police officers at high risk for trauma-exposure.

Having dealt with the months-long terror of crammed ICUs, unavailable PPE and the fear of getting infected, the coronavirus crisis is taking its toll on healthcare workers' mental health. 

After 15 years as an emergency doctor, Anand Swaminathan was familiar with the traumatic experiences that came along with his job – treating victims of shootings, stabbings and terrible incidents of domestic violence. But it was the relentless, months-long influx of patients during the Covid-19 pandemic that made him seek therapy for the first time.

Moral injury is a construct developed to explain a unique symptom profile of individuals who may have perpetrated, witnessed, or learned about events that transgress their held moral beliefs. Among combat exposed Veterans, particular attention has been focused on the ambiguous nature of recent military conflicts and the increased moral conflicts associated with more recent, unconventional combat tactics and strategies.

Background

Military personnel are exposed to severe stressors across different stages of their career that may have a negative impact on mental health and functioning. It is often suggested that psychological resilience plays an important role in the maintenance and/or enhancement of their mental health and functioning under these circumstances.

Method