Trauma and Public Mental Health : A Focused Review

Psychological trauma has developed into a very common concept in the scientific community, in mental health care, as well as in popular language and mass media. The purpose of this article is to show the relevance of the discipline of traumatic stress studies to the field of public mental health by examining central concepts and findings concerning trauma and its aftermath and examining implications for public mental health.

Read more

Intergenerational consequences of the Holocaust on offspring mental health : a systematic review of associated factors and mechanisms

Exposure to war and violence has major consequences for society at large, detrimental impact on people’s individual lives, and may also have intergenerational consequences. To gain more insight into these intergenerational consequences, research addressing the impact of the Holocaust on offspring is an important source of information. The aim of the current study was to systematically review the mechanisms of intergenerational consequences by summarizing characteristics in Holocaust survivors and their offspring suggested to impact the offspring’s mental health.

Read more

Poor Quality in Systematic Reviews on PTSD and EMDR : An Examination of Search Methodology and Reporting

Background: Different user groups regard systematic reviews as reliable and valuable sources for answering research questions. For systematic reviews to fulfill their purpose, methodological quality in all stages are of importance. The studies identified in a systematic search form the basis of the review, thus the search process methodology is important for both performing and reporting the search. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the quality of non-Cochrane systematic reviews by analyzing how they perform and report the search.

Read more

Adolescent Life Perspectives After War : Evaluation and Adaptation of the Future Expectation Scale in Uganda

The formulation of life perspectives is one of the developmental tasks of adolescence. Expectations regarding one’s own future are shaped by cultural and contextual factors. However, there is little cross-cultural research that includes countries affected by war and turmoil. A Ugandan version of the Future Expectations Scale for Adolescents (FESA) was developed and evaluated with a sample of 279 Ugandan adolescents with low socioeconomic status living in rural communities affected by the Ugandan civil war (1986–2006).

Read more

The Moderating Role of Individual Resilience in Refugee and Dutch Adolescents After Trauma

Objective: Exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) has been identified as a risk factor for various psychological problems in adolescents generally and in young refugees. The aim of this study was to examine whether individual resilience (assessed as a personality characteristic) can protect adolescents in diverse contexts from negative effects of trauma exposure.

Read more

Cohort profile: the Prospective Research In Stress-Related Military Operations (PRISMO) study in the Dutch Armed Forces

Purpose: The Prospective Research in Stress-Related Military Operations (PRISMO) study was initiated to gain a better understanding of the long-term impact of military deployment on mental health, and to map the different biological and psychological factors that contribute to the development of stress-related mental health symptoms.

Read more

Traumatic loss : Mental health consequences and implications for treatment and prevention

Traumatic loss involves the loss of loved ones in the context of potentially traumatizing circumstances and is a commonly reported traumatic event. It may give rise to disturbed grief, called prolonged grief disorder (PGD) in ICD-11 and persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) in DMS-5, combined with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. The recent inclusion of grief disorders in both DSM-5 and ICD-11 have spurred research on grief-related psychopathology. This special issue on traumatic loss includes 10 articles and two letters.

 

Read more

Conducting research in clinical practice : Challenges in the assessment and treatment of childhood internalizing disorders

Dissertation: Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen

Vanuit de Academische Werkplaats Inside-Out onderzocht Marleen van Doorn de diagnostiek en behandeling van kinderen met angst of depressieve klachten in de klinische praktijk. Bij het stellen van een diagnose is het essentieel dat therapeuten niet alleen de visie van ouders op zulke klachten meewegen, maar ook die van het kind zelf, is een belangrijke conclusie uit het promotieonderzoek.

Onopgemerkte stoornissen 

Read more

No pain, no gain : cross-lagged analyses of posttraumatic growth and anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress and prolonged grief symptoms after loss

Background and objectives: Major negative life-events including bereavement can precipitate perceived positive life-changes, termed posttraumatic growth (PTG). While traditionally considered an adaptive phenomenon, it has been suggested that PTG represents a maladaptive coping response similar to cognitive avoidance. To clarify the function of PTG, it is crucial to establish concurrent and longitudinal associations of PTG with post-event mental health problems. Yet, longitudinal studies on this topic are scarce. The present study fills this gap in knowledge.

Read more

Eritrean Unaccompanied Refugee Minors in Transition : A Focused Ethnography of Challenges and Needs

In the Netherlands, the largest group of unaccompanied refugee minors originates from Eritrea. These minors have been exposed to several distressing events and face psychosocial challenges and drastic changes within their social-ecological environment upon arrival in the Netherlands. The current study explored challenges and needs of Eritrean unaccompanied refugee minors and their caregivers. We conducted a focused ethnography among Eritrean minors (N = 18) and their professional caregivers (N = 15).

Read more

Pages