Background: The colonial war that Portugal was involved in between 1961 and 1974 had a significant impact on veterans and their families.

Objective: To investigate the association between childhood life events, childhood trauma and the presence of anxiety, depressive or comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders in adulthood. Method: Data are from 1931 adult participants in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). Childhood life events included divorce of parents, early parental loss and 'placed in care', whereas childhood trauma was assessed as experienced emotional neglect, psychological, physical and sexual abuse prior to age 16.

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, but the precise effect of childhood adversities as risk factors for the onset and persistence of suicidal behaviour (suicide ideation, plans and attempts) are not well understood. AIMS: To examine the associations between childhood adversities as risk factors for the onset and persistence of suicidal behaviour across 21 countries worldwide.

Tragically, violence and armed conflict have become commonplace in the lives of many children around the world. Not only have millions of children been forced to witness war and its atrocities, but many are drawn into conflict as active participants. Nowhere has this been more evident than in Sierra Leone during its 11-year civil war. Drawing upon in-depth interviews and focus groups with former child soldiers of Sierra Leone’s rebel Revolutionary United Front, Myriam Denov compassionately examines how child soldiers are initiated into the complex world of violence and armed conflict.

The World Health Organization described children born of rape as at risk of being neglected, stigmatized, ostracized, or abandoned. Cases of infanticide (the killing of an infant) have also been reported. Despite such general concerns, little is known about the fate of these children. Even in the mental health domain, professional conversations hardly include their fate. Clinical case reports describe a high rate of ambivalent parent-child relationships or even abusive relationships and a high rate of serious discrimination within the societies in which these children are raised.

Marineveteraan Henk de Koster is drager van het Bronzen Kruis, tweemaal getorpedeerd en betrokken bij de invasie in 1944 in Normandië. Hij wuift het 't liefst allemaal weg. Maar als hij terugdenkt aan de torpedering door Japanse bommenwerpers van Hr.Ms. Van Nes op 17 februari 1942 voor de westkust van Billiton, vertelt hij dat hij 96 uur half op een vlot van balsahout in het water heeft gelegen. Het was bloedheet, ik kreeg hallucinaties, in een seconde trok m'n hele leven aan me voorbij.

OBJECTIVES: The basis for the associations among anger, hostility, aggressive behavior, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains unclear. We suggest classifying aggressive behavior may elucidate the associations among these factors. On the basis of diagnostic and neurobiological similarities between impulsive aggression (IA) and PTSD, we proposed that IA was the predominant form of aggression in PTSD and that anger and hostility would not significantly predict PTSD when IA was also included as a predictor.

Early identification of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children is important to offer them appropriate and timely treatment. The Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES) is a brief self-report measure designed to screen children for PTSD. Research regarding the diagnostic validity of the CRIES is still insufficient, has been restricted to specific populations, and sample sizes have often been small. This study evaluated the reliability and validity of the 8-item (CRIES-8) and 13-item (CRIES-13) versions of the CRIES in a large clinically referred sample.

There has been increased interest in self-perceived posttraumatic growth, but few longitudinal studies have focused on its relationship with posttraumatic stress. Self-perceived growth is generally thought to facilitate adjustment, but some researchers have proposed that it reflects a dysfunctional coping strategy that impedes adjustment and leads to posttraumatic stress. In this prospective longitudinal study, we examined the relationship between self-perceived posttraumatic growth and stress. Participants were soldiers deployed to Iraq.

Background: Controlled qualitative methods complement quantitative treatment outcome research and enable a more thorough understanding of the effects of therapy and the suspected mechanisms of action. Aims: Thematic analyses were used to examine outcomes of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a randomized controlled trial of individuals diagnosed with military-related PTSD (n = 15).