Objective
to examine the hypothesis that PTSD with delayed expression in some cases occur without subthreshold PTSD symptoms above background levels bridging the gap between the traumatic exposure(s) and the clinical diagnosis.

Objective: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, Text Revision includes prolonged grief disorder as a novel disorder. Prolonged grief disorder can be diagnosed when acute grief stays distressing and disabling, beyond 12 months following bereavement. Evidence indicates that elevated prolonged grief disorder symptoms in the first year of bereavement predict pervasive grief later in time; targeting early elevated grief may potentially prevent symptoms getting chronic.

This manual has been written for helpers who provide assistance and support to boys and men who have survived gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual trauma during disasters, wars, conflicts and during migration. We hope it will help those who work with gender-based violence in other settings as well.

Research on trauma- and stressor-related disorders has recently expanded to consider moral injury, or the harmful psychological impact of profound moral transgressions, betrayals, and acts of perpetration. Largely studied among military populations, this construct has rarely been empirically extended to children and adolescents despite its relevance in the early years, as well as youths’ potentially heightened susceptibility to moral injury due to ongoing moral development and limited social resources relative to adults.