Guilt is associated with acute stress symptoms in children after road traffic accidents

Background: Although previous research has consistently found considerable rates of acute stress disorder (ASD) in children with accidental injuries, knowledge about determinants of ASD remains incomplete. Guilt is a common reaction among children after a traumatic event and has been shown to contribute to posttraumatic stress disorder. However, its relationship to ASD has never been examined.

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Mental health professionals’ attitudes toward patients with PTSD and depression

Background: To date, mental health professionals’ attitudes toward posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), compared to other psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia or depression, have rarely been studied.
Objective: We assessed mental health professionals’ attitudes toward patients with PTSD compared to patients suffering from depression.

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Reliability, factor structure, and validity of the German version of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children in a sample of adolescents

Background: The Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSC-C) is the most widely used self-report scale to assess trauma-related symptoms in children and adolescents on six clinical scales. The purpose of the present study was to develop a German version of the TSC-C and to investigate its psychometric properties, such as factor structure, reliability, and validity, in a sample of German adolescents.
Method: A normative sample of N=583 and a clinical sample of N=41 adolescents with a history of physical or sexual abuse aged between 13 and 21 years participated in the study.

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Less is more? Assessing the validity of the ICD-11 model of PTSD across multiple trauma samples

Background: In the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the symptom profile of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was expanded to include 20 symptoms. An alternative model of PTSD is outlined in the proposed 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) that includes just six symptoms.

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Interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder in psychiatric practice across Europe: a trainees’ perspective

Background: With an annual prevalence of 0.9–2.6%, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is very common in clinical practice across Europe. Despite the fact that evidence-based interventions have been developed, there is no evidence on their implementation in clinical practice and in national psychiatric training programmes.
Objective and method: The Early Career Psychiatrists Committee of the European Psychiatric Association conducted a survey in 23 European countries to explore implementation of evidence-based interventions for PTSD and training options.

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Factor structure of the Parent Emotional Reaction Questionnaire: analysis and validation

Background: Although many children experience violence and abuse each year, there is a lack of instruments measuring parents’ emotional reactions to these events. One instrument, the Parent Emotional Reaction Questionnaire (PERQ), allows researchers and clinicians to survey a broad spectrum of parents’ feelings directly related to their children’s traumatic experiences.

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Therapist and client perspectives on the alliance in the treatment of traumatized adolescents

Objective: Client ratings of the therapeutic alliance are an important predictor of outcome in the treatment of traumatized adolescents and adults, but less is known about the therapists’ perspective. The aim of this study was to investigate how therapists’ ratings relate to the adolescents’ perspective, how individual therapist and adolescent ratings relate to change in symptoms and treatment satisfaction, and whether discrepant alliance perspectives impact treatment outcome.

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Enhanced screening for posttraumatic stress disorder and comorbid diagnoses in children and adolescents

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a debilitating disorder and often co-occurs with other psychiatric disorders, such as mood, behavioral, and anxiety disorders. Early identification of PTSD and psychiatric comorbidity is highly relevant in order to offer children appropriate and timely treatment. The Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13) is a reliable and valid self-report measure designed to screen children for PTSD. However, this measure is not useful as a screen for psychiatric comorbidity in children with probable PTSD.

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The influence of shame on posttrauma disorders: have we failed to see the obvious?

Background: While fear is known to be the dominant affect associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the presence and possible influence of other emotions is less well explored. Recent changes to diagnostic criteria have added anger, guilt and shame alongside fear as significant emotional states associated with the disorder. This article suggests that shame is a frequent, often poorly recognised sequel to trauma, occurring as a result of the meaning the individual places on the traumatic experience and on subsequent interpersonal and environmental events.

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Response to psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: the role of pretreatment verbal memory performance

Objective: Neuropsychological studies have consistently demonstrated impaired verbal memory in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Trauma-focused treatment for PTSD is thought to rely on memory, but it is largely unknown whether treatment outcome is influenced by memory performance. The aim of the study, therefore, was to examine the relationship between verbal memory performance and treatment response to trauma-focused psychotherapy.

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