Gendered Power in Cultural Contexts: Part I. Immigrant Couples

Immigration is a world-wide phenomenon and practitioners are increasingly called on to work with issues related to it. The authors examine the experience of couples who are immigrants to the United States in regard to gender and power issues. Although the study limited participation to one religious group in order to hold that aspect of culture and gender attitudes constant, the experiences of these couples help to make visible the link between microlevel couple interaction and larger social processes. The results show how the couples manage a delicate balance between the push for gender change and avoiding too much conflict as male power is challenged.     

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Salvadoran Women:

Previous research has documented post-traumatic stress disorder among Salvadoran refugees in this country, but information on refugees living in El Salvador is not available. This study investigated the patterns of psychological distress and documented the existence of PTSD in Salvadoran refugee women in El Salvador. A team of U.S. mental health workers traveled to a refugee camp in El Salvador to interview women about their traumatic experiences and current symptoms of distress. This study provides strong evidence that many refugee women in El Salvador have developed PTSD and that many others show significant signs of distress. Data from this study also provided insight into clinical issues for Salvadoran women experiencing PTSD. In response to requests from Salvadoran mental health providers, a treatment program was developed to help Salvadoran women reduce their distress. Goals of the treatment included associating distress with the trauma as a normal reaction to a very abnormal event, reducing feelings of loss of control, reducing "survivor guilt," and lessening anxiety and high arousal level. These goals were accomplished using cognitive-behavioral and community-oriented strategies.     

Attachment Theory and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Attachment theory is applied to understanding and treatment of the anxiety condition of post-traumatic stress disorder in adults. Conceptualized as intensified attachment behavior which is elicited at separation or loss or threat of separation, PTSD responses represent an inherent, though exaggerated, attempt to ensure protection and security. The secure base of a therapeutic relationship reduces the intensity of responses and provides an opportunity to review experiences relevant to current distress in order to affirm emotional reactions and come to terms with distressing events. Implications for prevention are discussed.     

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Vietnamese Women

This article describes the extraordinary events Vietnamese women immigrants and refugees experienced prior to their resettlement in the United States. Oral history data illustrate the need for sensitization to issues of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the historical-cultural background of this special population. Oral history narratives from five Vietnamese women suggest differences in the way men and women define wartime trauma, and that women's biological makeup may precipitate some stress reactions unique to women. These narratives are examined in terms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a diagnosis that has been applied primarily to male veterans in treating their physical and psychological problems resulting from war, not to Vietnamese women who lived under war conditions.     

The time of trauma: Husserl's phenomenology and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The phenomenology of inner temporalizing developed by Edmund Husserl provides a helpful framework for understanding a type of experiencing that can be part of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). My paper extrapolates hints from Husserl's work in order to describe those memories — flashbacks — that come so strongly to consciousness as to overtake the experiencer. Husserl's work offers several clues: his view of inner temporalization by which conscious experiences flow in both a serial and a nonserial manner; a characterization of process memory as distinct from representational memory; and the notion of telos, which takes human subjectivity as intrinsically changeable, for example, by means of a retroactive cancellation that would allow the PTSD experiencer to re-process the original meaning of the traumatic experience into a meaning that fits the current situation and thus allows a recovery.     

创伤后应激障碍病因及发病机制的研究进展

创伤后应激障碍(post-traumatic stress disorder,PTSD)是一种严重的应激相关障碍,指个体面临异常强烈的精神应激后延迟发生的精神障碍,文献报告PTSD的终生患病率为1%～14%,高危人群研究发现PTSD的患病率为3%～58%,女性约为男性的两倍[1].PTSD的病因及发病机制较为复杂,涉及很多方面,本文将对PTSD病因及发病机制的研究进展进行综述.     

Post-Traumatic Stress and World Assumptions: The Effects of Religious Coping

Religiosity has been shown to moderate the negative effects of traumatic event experiences. The current study was deigned to examine the relationship between post-traumatic stress (PTS) following traumatic event exposure; world assumptions defined as basic cognitive schemas regarding the world; and self and religious coping conceptualized as drawing on religious beliefs and practices for understanding and dealing with life stressors. This study examined 777 Israeli undergraduate students who completed several questionnaires which sampled individual world assumptions and religious coping in addition to measuring PTS, as manifested by the PTSD check list. Results indicate that positive religious coping was significantly associated with more positive world assumptions, while negative religious coping was significantly associated with more negative world assumptions. Additionally, negative world assumptions were significantly associated with more avoidance symptoms, while reporting higher rates of traumatic event exposure was significantly associated with more hyper-arousal. These findings suggest that religious-related cognitive schemas directly affect world assumptions by creating protective shields that may prevent the negative effects of confronting an extreme negative experience.     

创伤后应激障碍病因及发病机制的研究进展

创伤后应激障碍(post-traumatic stress disorder,PTSD)是一种严重的应激相关障碍,指个体面临异常强烈的精神应激后延迟发生的精神障碍,文献报告PTSD的终生患病率为1%～14%,高危人群研究发现PTSD的患病率为3%～58%,女性约为男性的两倍[1]。PTSD的病因及发病机制较为复杂,涉及很多方面,本文将对PTSD病因及发病机制的研究进展进行综述。     

中学生创伤后成长、创伤后应激障碍的发展趋势:心理复原力的预测效应

以问卷调查的方法对汶川震后初一年级的学生进行2.5年的追踪研究,通过多层线性模型(HLM)来探索创伤后成长(PTG)和创伤后应激障碍(PTSD)的发展趋势以及心理复原力对二者的预测效应。结果发现,随着时间的发展,心理复原力仅在第二次施测时呈显著下降趋势,PTSD与PTG均呈现出先下降后上升的非线性发展趋势;心理复原力的三个因子对PTG均有显著的正向预测作用,力量因子对PTSD有显著负向预测作用,其中,乐观因子可进一步预测PTG的发展速度,力量因子可进一步预测PTSD的发展速度;在灾后中学生PTG的增长、PTSD的降低中,心理复原力可以分别解释18.87%和14.74%的变异。     

The Biological Findings in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Review1

In this paper the authors review the literature on biological and treatment studies of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and present current unifying hypotheses regarding the pathophysiology. The psychophysiological studies stress overarousal, while endocrine studies suggest a decreased Cortisol production in denial and low symptom states with increases in highly symptomatic states. Suggestive evidence is provided that PTSD is associated with permanent changes in brain mechanisms involving the locus coeruleus, amygdala, and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Drug treatments are promising but not fully satisfactory as yet. Directions for further research are provided.     

Psychoeducation for Adults with Post-Traumatic Stress Symptomatology: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy - Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can develop after experiencing a traumatic event. Psychoeducation is a treatment approach often...     

Comorbidity of attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) show a high degree of comorbidity in traumatized children. Two hypotheses may help explain this relationship: children with ADHD are at higher risk for trauma due to their impulsivity, dangerous behaviors, and parents who may have a genetic predisposition for impairment of their own impulse control; and hyperarousal induced by severe trauma and manifested by hypervigilance and poor concentration may impair attention to create an ADHD-like syndrome. Four illustrative cases are presented, and implications for treatment are discussed.     

Management of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Military: An Intervention Model

Military Forces are involved in combat, peacekeeping operations and disaster management. The nature of such operations include violent conflict, death of women and children, child soldiers and own forces. These traumatic circumstances can contribute to the development of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in members involved. This article discusses the role and function of psychological debriefing for trauma with operational military units. It also proposes a preliminary intervention model to manage PTSD in military forces.     

The Sensory Profile of People With Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms

Thirty participants with post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and 30 healthy controls completed the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Scale (PSS-SR) and the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP). Participants with PTS symptoms vacillated between sensory sensitivity, sensation avoiding, and low registration. Sensation avoiding and low registration correlated with intrusive thoughts related to PTS. Discriminant Analysis classified 73% of the study group and 80% of the controls. PTS may be related to hypersensitivity and low registration. Further studies about the sensory profile of people with PTS symptoms may contribute to research and optimize evaluation and intervention for people with PTSD.     

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,Sensory Integration,and Aquatic Therapy: A Scoping Review

The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) continues to increase. Symptomology of PTSD include sensory deficits much like those displayed in children with sensory integration (SI) disorder. The aim of this scoping review is to review symptoms of PTSD and SI, and make a case of how aquatic therapy may be an effective modality in treating clients with PTSD. Eighteen articles were selected for review. From this review, it is suggested that aquatic therapy can be an effective modality in reducing symptoms of PTSD; however, future research is essential in determining its effectiveness.     

Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Bereaved Children and Adolescents: Factor Structure and Correlates

This study investigated the factor structure and correlates of posttraumatic stress-disorder (PTSD) symptoms among children and adolescents confronted with the death of a loved one. Three hundred thirty-two bereaved children and adolescents (aged 8–18; 56.9 % girls) who all received some form of psychosocial support after their loss, completed self-report measures of PTSD, together with measures tapping demographic and loss-related variables, depression, prolonged grief, and functional impairment. Parent-rated indices of impairment were also collected. We first evaluated the fit of six alternative models of the factor structure of PTSD symptoms, using confirmatory factor analyses. Outcomes showed that the 4-factor numbing model from King et al. (Psychological Assessment 10, 90–96, 1998), with distinct factors of reexperiencing, avoidance, emotional numbing, and hyperarousal fit the data best. Of all participants, 51.5 % met DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. PTSD-status and scores on the PTSD factors varied as a function of age and gender, but were unrelated to other demographic and loss-related variables. PTSD-status and scores on the PTSD factors were significantly associated symptom-levels of depression, prolonged grief, and functional impairment. Findings complement prior evidence that the DSM-IV model of the factor structure of PTSD symptoms may not represent the best conceptualization of these symptoms and highlight the importance of addressing PTSD symptoms in children and adolescents seeking help after bereavement.     

Self-reported Attitude Towards Speeding and Its Possible Consequences in Five Different Road Contexts

Driving above the permitted speed limit is a common violation on the roads of Great Britain. Moreover, speeding is associated with negative consequences in the form of damage, injury and fatal road traffic accidents. The aim of this study was to assess, by means of self-report, the prevalence of this social problem across five different contexts: a residential road, a busy shopping street, a dual carriageway, a winding country road, and a motorway. The extent to which speeding was perceived to be associated with negative consequences was also assessed. Results suggest that most drivers make judgements about the type of road on which they are driving and the degree of speeding that is acceptable, and that their intentions to speed vary accordingly. Some drivers reported a consistent intention to speed, however, and these people were characterized by greater general deviance on the road (e.g. high violation score), rather than by a stronger tendency to underestimate the negative consequences. In general, however, younger people and those with less regard for negative consequences reported stronger intentions to speed. These results are discussed with reference to strategies for addressing the problem of speeding. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.