Abstract

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been best studied among combat veterans. Less is known about PTSD among civilian populations exposed to traumatic events. A recent mass murder spree by a gunman in a cafeteria in Killeen, Tex., has provided a unique opportunity to study acute-phase civilian responses to a combat type of experience.

METHOD:

Approximately 1 month after the disaster, 136 survivors were interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule/Disaster Supplement.

RESULTS:

Abstract

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

A prospective study of children examined both before and after a flood disaster in Bangladesh is used to test the hypothesis that stressful events play a causal role in the development of behavioral disorders in children.

METHODS:

Six months before the disaster, structured measures of selected behavioral problems were made during an epidemiological study of disability among 2- to 9-year-old children. Five months after the disaster, a representative sample of 162 surviving children was reevaluated.

RESULTS:

Abstract

This study examines the role of coping in the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a nonpatient population following exposure to a natural disaster. In contrast to other studies, the use of all coping strategies was found to be associated with the presence of PTSD rather than the absence of symptoms. These data suggest that coping (in this sense) represents a psychological process used to contain the distress caused by symptoms as well as to manage environmental adversity.

Abstract

Huiselijk geweld is een groot maatschappelijk probleem. De aanpak van huiselijk geweld vraagt om deskundige professionals die het onderwerp kennen, die de signalen van huiselijk geweld herkennen, geweld bespreekbaar kunnen maken met betrokkenen en er doeltreffend op kunnen reageren. In dit artikel plaatsen we huiselijk geweld in het perspectief van een veranderend sociaal domein: transformatie, decentralisatie van taken en verantwoordelijkheden naar gemeenten, de meldcode, sociale wijkteams en Veilig Thuis.

Abstract

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

This study was undertaken 1 1/2 years after the 1988 earthquake in Armenia to assess the frequency and severity of posttraumatic stress reactions among elderly and younger adult victims and to assess the relation of exposure, age, sex, and death of a family member to these reactions.

METHOD:

One hundred seventy-nine subjects of both sexes were evaluated with the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Reaction Index. A subgroup of 60 individuals were also assessed for PTSD with the DSM-III-R criteria.

RESULTS:

Abstract

The psychological after-effects on 27 survivors of the Marchioness riverboat disaster of 20 August 1989 are described. On measures of intrusive memories and psychological difficulties these subjects are significantly higher than population norms, and somewhat higher than psychiatric in-patient populations. Personality measures taken after the disaster show that neuroticism scores are very much higher than population norms, but personality measures were not correlated with distress.