Many children like Bas and Eva experience stressful events as they grow up. They are faced with painful circumstances like parental divorce or the death of a loved one. Most children can overcome those experiences, but some develop such psychological problems that professional help is needed. The overall focus of this dissertation is the assessment and treatment of problematic grief in children like Bas and Eva. First, we give an overview of epidemiological aspects and a historical overview of research on problematic grief.

Overview. ISTSS has developed guidelines for the treatment of PTSD, the first of which were produced in 2000 followed by a revision published in 2008 (Foa, Keane, Friedman & Cohen, 2008). The 2008 guidelines acknowledge that the PTSD framework does not include salient symptoms and problems of individuals who are exposed to prolonged and repeated trauma such as childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, and political violence, commonly referred to as Complex PTSD, and that these disturbances contribute to distressed lives and disability.

In the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) incorporate trauma-related cognitions. This adaptation of the criteria has consequences for the treatment of PTSD. Until now, comprehensive information about the effect of psychotherapy on trauma-related cognitions has been lacking. Therefore, the goal of our meta-analysis was to determine which psychotherapy most effectively reduces trauma-related cognitions.

In the last two decades we have been confronted with new countries and altered maps in Europe with border changes, resettlements, ethnic cleansing, and migration. This migration has profoundly coloured the life of past European generations in the Danube region and beyond, it has affected our own lives, and will be part of the experience of our children.

Many scholars question the immense variation in rates of mental health outcomes across disaster studies. This study explains this variation by putting forward 2 methodological problems that are inherent to the effect of a disaster context on mental health screening scores. The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 was administered in a flood-affected group (n = 318) and a nonaffected group (n = 304) in Uttar Pradesh, India. The affected group showed much higher mean scores on subscales of anxiety and depression.

Purpose: To present a review of the literature concerning medically unexplained physical symptoms in refugees.
Methods: We outline a variety of definitions and explanations of somatization, as well as the role of culture in the concept of disease. In addition, we present a review of the epidemiological literature about somatization in refugees.

DNA methylation likely plays a role in the regulation of human stress reactivity. Here we show that in a genome-wide analysis of blood DNA methylation in 85 healthy individuals, a locus in the Kit ligand gene (KITLG; cg27512205) showed the strongest association with cortisol stress reactivity (P=5.8 × 10(-6)). Replication was obtained in two independent samples using either blood (N=45, P=0.001) or buccal cells (N=255, P=0.004). KITLG methylation strongly mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and cortisol stress reactivity in the discovery sample (32% mediation).

Net als na de aanslagen in Parijs publiceren we door de gebeurtenissen in Brussel voorlopig geen artikelen op De Correspondent. We willen eerst de tijd nemen om de aanslagen van de juiste context te voorzien. Ondertussen verwijzen we je graag naar relevante analyses uit ons archief en van andere media. Dit artikel wordt in de loop van de dag van updates voorzien.

Traumatic stress can have severe consequences for both mental and physical health. Furthermore, both psychological and biological traces of trauma increase as a function of accumulating traumatic experiences. Neurobiological research may aid in limiting the impact of traumatic stress, by leading to advances in preventive and treatment interventions.

Background: The field of trauma and traumatic stress is dominated by studies on treatments for those who experience adversity from traumatic experiences. While this is important, we should not neglect the opportunity to consider trauma in a public health perspective. Such a perspective will help to develop prevention approaches as well as extend the reach of early interventions and treatments.