To what extent do post-traumatic mental health and other problems reflect pre-existing problems? : Findings from the prospective comparative population-based VICTIMS-study

Background:

Findings from prospective studies question the assumption that mental health problems observed in traumatized adults mainly reflect the effects of potentially traumatic events.

 

Aims:

Aim of the present comparative prospective study is to clarify the extent to which victims of potentially traumatic events with mental health, social, financial, and/or legal problems, already suffered from such problems before these events.

 

Method:

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Teaching Empathy to Mental Health Practitioners and Trainees : Pairwise and Network Meta-Analyses

Objective:

Empathy is a foundational therapeutic skill and a key contributor to client outcome, yet the best combination of instructional components for its training is unclear. We sought to address this by investigating the most effective instructional components (didactic, rehearsal, reflection, observation, feedback, mindfulness) and their combinations for teaching empathy to practitioners.

 

Method:

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The Syrian regime’s apparatus for systemic torture : A qualitative narrative study of testimonies from survivors

Background
Despite broad interest of the Syrian refugee plight in the academic and media circles, there are still limited studies analyzing the lived experiences of torture survivors under the Syrian regime. This qualitative study interviewed torture survivors to examine the form and function of the Syrian regime’s security apparatus, and the personal aftermath of survivors.

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Ritual (Re)design : Towards a Framework for Professional Ritual Making in Postsecular Contexts

Ritualizing, the creative, imaginative, and intuitive act of ritual making has been acknowledged for some time now in the literature. In this study, this intuitive process is studied in more detail from the perspective of ritual theory. The aim is to theoretically strengthen a framework of ritual making for professionals, such as chaplains and celebrants working with renewed rituals.

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Groupwork with Refugees and Survivors of Human Rights Abuses : The Power of Togetherness

Drawing on multiple theoretical approaches, the book features chapters from practitioners running groups in different settings, such as torture rehabilitation services, refugee camps, and reception centres. The voices of participants demonstrate the variety, creativity, and value of group and community approaches for recovery. The editors have gathered chapters into three sections covering: community-based approaches; groups that work through the medium of "body and soul"; and group approaches that focus on change through the spoken word.

 

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Unravelling psychiatric heterogeneity and predicting suicide attempts in women with trauma-related dissociation using artificial intelligence

Background: Suicide is a leading cause of death, and rates of attempted suicide have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The under-diagnosed psychiatric phenotype of dissociation is associated with elevated suicidal self-injury; however, it has largely been left out of attempts to predict and prevent suicide.

 

Objective: We designed an artificial intelligence approach to identify dissociative patients and predict prior suicide attempts in an unbiased, data-driven manner.

 

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Assessment of mental health of university students faced with different lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, a repeated cross-sectional study

Background: Studies have highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of university students. However, little is known about the psychological impact of successive lockdowns on this population.

 

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of psychological distress in a student population during the first two lockdowns linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to stratify them by subgroup.

 

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Risk and protective factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic – findings from a pan-European study

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a health emergency resulting in multiple stressors that may be related to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

 

 

Objective: This study examined relationships between risk and protective factors, pandemic-related stressors, and PTSD during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

 

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Effects of intensive trauma-focused treatment of individuals with both post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder

Background: Research indicates that intensive trauma-focused therapy can be effective in alleviating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, these studies have relied on self-report of BPD symptoms and follow-up data are scarce.

 

Objective: The purpose of this feasibility study was to determine the effects of an intensive trauma-focused treatment programme on the severity of PTSD and BPD symptoms and the diagnostic status up to a 12-month follow-up.

 

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Who were the Roma victims of the Nazis? A case study of Estonia

This article documents the mass murder of the Roma community in Nazi-occupied Estonia. Using the statistical data assembled by the police, it paints a collective picture of the minority destroyed.

 

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