ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre

Disturbed grief, operationalized as persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD), correlates with yet differs from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms. However, knowledge about temporal associations among these symptoms is limited. We aimed to enhance our understanding of the etiology of loss-related distress by examining temporal associations among PCBD, PTSD, and depression symptom levels. Dutch people (N = 172) who lost significant other(s) in a plane disaster completed questionnaires for PCBD, PTSD, and depression 11, 22, 31, and 42 months after the disaster.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment guidelines have unequivocally designated psychotherapy as a first-line treatment, despite well-documented neurobiological alterations in this disorder [1]. Even with psychotherapy, PTSD often remains chronic and severe. There is urgency to discover novel compounds and new treatment strategies for PTSD.

Background: A distinct grief-specific disorder is included in the ICD-11. Lack of clarity remains regarding whether different proposed diagnostic criteria capture similar or different diagnostic entities. Our aim was to examine the specificity of four proposed diagnostic criteria-sets for pathological grief in a population-based sample.

The authors regret that “β” in the abstract of the published article was written as “β−”. The corrected abstract is as follows. The authors would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused. 

Abstract

Background: Bereavement can precipitate different forms of psychopathology, including prolonged grief disorder (PGD) and posttraumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. How these symptoms influence each other is unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the temporal relationship of symptoms of PGD and PTSD following bereavement.

Background: Persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) is a disorder of grief that newly entered DSM-5. Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is a disorder of grief included in ICD-11. No prior studies examined and compared the dimensionality, prevalence, and concurrent validity of both conditions among bereaved children.

Birth experiences can be traumatic and may give rise to PTSD following childbirth (PTSD-FC). Peripartum neurobiological alterations in the oxytocinergic system are highly relevant for postpartum maternal behavioral and affective adaptions like bonding and lactation but are also implicated in the response to traumatic events. Animal models demonstrated that peripartum stress impairs beneficial maternal postpartum behavior. Early postpartum activation of the oxytocinergic system may, however, reverse these effects and thereby prevent adverse long-term consequences for both mother and infant.

Oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) DNA-methylation levels have been associated with traumaexposure, mood- and anxiety disorders, and social processes relevant to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We hypothesized that OXTR methylation may play a role in the neurobiological underpinnings of PTSD. In the current study, we compared OXTR methylation between PTSD patients (n = 31, 14 females) and trauma-exposed controls (n = 36, 19 females).

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.

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.

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.