ARQ Centrum’45 (en)

Socio-ecological interventions assume that there are ‘links’ between the individual process that determines disaster mental health and the social context one lives in. However, there is insufficient empirical basis for this claim. This paper summarises the main findings from a research programme, in which two advanced statistical techniques on data from two floods were applied, respectively Uttar Pradesh, India 2008 and Morpeth, England, 2008.

Despite an array of evidence-based psychological treatments for patients with a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a majority of patients do not fully benefit from the potential of these therapies. In veterans with PTSD, up to two-thirds retain their diagnosis after psychotherapy and often their disorder is treatment-resistant, which calls for improvement of therapeutic approaches for this population. One of the factors hypothesized to underlie low response in PTSD treatment is high behavioral and cognitive avoidance to traumatic reminders.

Background: Psychological resilience is a distinct factor that affects mental health outcomes after adversities. This study describes the development, validity and measurement invariance (MI) of a Dutch and English scale on psychological resilience, called the Resilience Evaluation Scale (RES).

Methods: Separate online surveys with the Dutch and English version of the RES and hypothesized relatedmeasures were distributed in a Dutch- and English-speaking group, both drawn from the general population.

Objectives

Individuals with post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have neurocognitive deficits in verbal memory and executive functioning. In this study, we examined whether memory and executive functioning changed over the course of treatment and which clinical variables were associated with change.

Design

Neuropsychological assessments were administered at baseline and endpoint of a randomized controlled trial as secondary outcome.

Methods

The field of treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been a pacesetter for the changing face of psychotherapy, as is illustrated in the introduction of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy. This paper outlines a novel approach that builds on a cognitive-motor interaction in a virtual interactive environment. It is based on the theory of memory reconsolidation and the embodiment of cognition.

ABSTRACT

Background: It is assumed that PTSD patients with a history of childhood sexual abuse benefit less from trauma-focused treatment than those without such a history.

Objective: To test whether the presence of a history of childhood sexual abuse has a negative effect on the outcome of intensive trauma-focused PTSD treatment.

ABSTRACT

Background: Trauma-focused psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been demonstrated to be efficacious, but also have considerable non-response and dropout rates. Intensive treatment may lead to faster symptom reduction, which may contribute to treatment motivation and thereby to reduction of dropout.

ABSTRACT

Background: Little is known about the development of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) symptoms over time in adults. For clinical purposes, it would be useful to have knowledge about early indicators of a problematic grief trajectory.

Objective: This study aimed to identify classes of bereaved individuals with similar trajectories of PGD symptoms and to design a provisional screening tool including symptoms predicting membership of classes with problematic grief trajectories.

Abstract

Background

Treatment studies in PTSD patients have mostly focused on adverse psychopathological outcomes whereas positive outcomes have received less attention. Objectives of this study were to investigate posttraumatic growth in response to two different psychotherapies, to examine the relationship between symptom improvement and growth, and to determine if posttraumatic growth predicted treatment response.

Methods

Abstract

Objectives

Dissociation is a prevalent phenomenon among veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that may interfere with the effectiveness of treatment. This study aimed to replicate findings of a dissociative PTSD subtype, to identify corresponding patterns in coping style, symptom type, and symptom severity, and to investigate its impact on post-traumatic symptom improvement.