“Hidden” and Diverse Long-Term Impacts of Exposure to War and Violence

Nowadays, the PTSD diagnosis is often a prerequisite for the survivor’s access to specialized treatment services and for obtaining legal recognition or financial compensation when exposed to violence. However, some survivors do not meet all necessary criteria for the PTSD diagnosis, particularly not in the long term. Therefore, they run the risk of being misdiagnosed, inadequately helped or undertreated, and may remain legally unrecognized and unprotected.

Read more

Severity profiles of posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms in treatment seeking traumatized refugees

Background: Western countries are facing many challenges hosting refugees from several regions in the world. Many of them are severely traumatized and suffer from a variety of mental health symptoms, which complicates the identification and treatment of refugees at risk. This study examined subgroups based on a broad range of psychopathology, and several predictors, including trauma characteristics and gender.

 

Read more

Commemoration of disruptive events : a scoping review about posttraumatic stress reactions and related factors

Collective commemoration in response to war or disaster is widespread across time and cultures. It is assumed to support those affected by the disruptive event to cope with their experiences. However, the actual relationship between commemoration and mental health outcomes is complicated and evidence of healing effects remains elusive.

 

Read more

The Effect of Psychological First Aid Training on Knowledge and Understanding about Psychosocial Support Principles : A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

Psychological first aid (PFA) is a world-wide implemented approach to helping people affected by an emergency, disaster, or other adverse event. Controlled evaluations of PFA’s training effects are lacking. We evaluated the effectiveness of a one-day PFA training on the acquisition and retention of knowledge of appropriate responses and skills in the acute aftermath of adversity in Peripheral Health Units (PHUs) in post-Ebola Sierra Leone. Secondary outcomes were professional quality of life, confidence in supporting a distressed person, and professional attitude.

Read more

Increases of correct memories and spontaneous false memories due to eye movements when memories are retrieved after a time delay

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. However, literature on possible adverse memory effects of EMDR is scarce. Using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory paradigm, we examined the susceptibility to spontaneous false memories after performing eye movements, as used in EMDR. In Experiment 1, 72 undergraduates received word lists containing negative and neutral associated words and immediately after this they were given a free recall and recognition test.

Read more

The network approach to posttraumatic stress disorder : a systematic review

Background: The empirical literature of network analysis studies of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) has grown rapidly over the last years.

Objective: We aimed to assess the characteristics of these studies, and if possible, the most and least central symptoms and the strongest edges in the networks of PTSS.

Method: The present systematic review, conducted in PsycInfo, Medline, and Web of Science, synthesizes findings from 20 cross-sectional PTSS network studies that were accepted for publication between January 2010 and November 2018 (PROSPERO ID: CRD42018112825).

Read more

Regions of white matter abnormalities in the arcuate fasciculus in veterans with anger and aggression problems

Aggression after military deployment is a common occurrence in veterans. Neurobiological research has shown that aggression is associated with a dysfunction in a network connecting brain regions implicated in threat processing and emotion regulation. However, aggression may also be related to deficits in networks underlying communication and social cognition. The uncinate and arcuate fasciculi are integral to these networks, thus studying potential abnormalities in these white matter connections can further our understanding of anger and aggression problems in military veterans.

Read more

Comparative efficacy of imagery rehearsal therapy and prazosin in the treatment of trauma-related nightmares in adults : A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Pharmacological treatment with prazosin and psychological treatment with imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) are the two main treatments of posttraumatic nightmares. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine task force recently listed IRT as the recommended treatment for trauma-related nightmares and changed the recommendation of prazosin to ‘may be used’. This new recommendation was based on a single prazosin trial and not on a meta-analytic review of all available trials. The current meta-analysis aims to fill this gap in the literature.

Read more

The spectral fingerprint of sleep problems in posttraumatic stress disorder

Study Objectives: Sleep problems are a core feature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The aim of this study was to find a robust objective measure for the
sleep disturbance in patients having PTSD.

Read more

Veterans’ perspectives on discussing moral injury in the context of evidence‐based psychotherapies for PTSD and other VA treatment

Objective

We examined Veterans’ perspectives on discussing moral injury in veterans affairs (VA) evidence‐based psychotherapies (EBPs) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other VA treatment.

Methods

Fourteen male warzone veterans (ages 25–74) who completed an EBP for PTSD within the past year participated in semistructured interviews related to discussing moral injury in VA treatment (e.g., EBPs for PTSD, chaplaincy). Qualitative interviews were evaluated using a thematic analysis.

Results

Read more

Pages