Evaluating the impact of a worksite stress management programme for distressed student nurses: A randomised controlled trial

Abstract

The effectiveness of a stress management intervention designed to reduce affective distress in 79 student nurses who previously reported significant distress, was evaluated by comparing stress management with wait-list control. The intervention had reliable, positive effects on affective outcomes including General Health Questionnaire-30, State and Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and a measure of domestic satisfaction. The intervention also led to an increase in Direct Coping use.

State Anxiety immediately preceding two important examinations, i.e. at 3 and 18 month follow-up, was lower for students receiving stress management. However, no effect was detected on sickness, absence and examination performance following this intervention. Stress management delivered in groups reduces affective distress and increases adaptive coping use in both clinical and academic settings.     

Ab initio pseudopotential studies on an Al Σ = 9 grain boundary: Effects of Na and Ca impurities

The electronic properties of an Al = 9 tilt grain boundary with segregated Na and Ca impurity atoms have been calculated by a first-principles pseudopotential method. The results show that the boundary expands and the charge density decreases significantly over the whole boundary by the segregation of Na and Ca, and there are no stronger bonds than those associated with metallic bonding in the boundary even with the impurities. It is concluded that the embrittlement promotion mechanism by Na or Ca segregation in the Al boundaries is one kind of 'decohesion model'.     

Equivalent strain-hardening work theorem

A new physical concept, termed ‘equivalent strain-hardening work’, is proposed. The physical concept can be used to redefine the commonly used effective stress and effective strain theory as applied in constructing the constitutive relations of stress and strain, especially when related to an anisotropic strain-hardening material. The concept concerns that part of plastic work which emphasizes the action due to the strain-hardening behaviour of a material. Based on this concept, any one of the strain-hardening stress–strain curves obtained through common experiments on anisotropic materials can be selected as a nominally effective stress and an associated effective strain, and the rest of the strain-hardening relations can all be then transformed to be functions of variables of the nominally effective strain. Thus, any kind of loading path can be characterized by a single relation between effective stress and effective strain. When applied to the isotropic materials, the equivalent strain-hardening work concept is identical with the work-equivalent deformation concept but is more general.     

Surface effect on the screw dislocation mobility over the Peierls barrier

The effect of the image force on the Peierls stress (τ _p ) of a screw dislocation below a free surface is studied via a self-consistent semidiscrete variational Peierls–Nabarro model. The consequence of reduction in elastic energy and increase in stacking fault energy by the presence of the free surface is found to additively increase the Peierls stress (τ _p ). This model gives a physical interpretation of the same tend observed in a recent molecular dynamic study, while previous continuum analysis predicted the opposite.     

The effects of attentional training on physiological stress recovery after induced social threat

Abstract

Social stress has been related to both physiological and psychological responses. The recovery of stress is influenced by the way environmental information is processed, i.e., what information is attended to and how it is interpreted. The present study investigated the effect of attention modification training on physiological stress recovery following induced stress. A group of applicants preparing for a job interview were randomly allocated to an attention training condition versus a control condition. Afterwards, they were asked to give an artificial job interview to a real life jury while being videotaped. Participants in both conditions showed decreased heart rate variability during the job interview, which indicates an overall physiological stress response. However, during a 30-minute follow-up period after the training, indices of heart rate variability showed improved stress recovery only in the attention training condition. Attentional training is proposed as a promising strategy to prevent enduring stress reactions.     

Community-Based Interventions in New York City After 9/11

Abstract

The horrors of 9/11 have created tremendous psychosocial needs in the population of New York. For all major providers in this field, this has meant taking up the challenge of learning within the new situation, creating new frameworks for intervention, and implementing programs that previously had not been a part of the traditional social services environment. In this article, we will describe the process of transforming this challenge into an opportunity for organizational, professional and conceptual growth.     

Mental Health Interventions in a General Hospital Following Terrorist Attacks

Abstract

Over three years of repeated terrorist attacks in Israel have shown that the victims suffering from acute stress syndromes constitute the bulk of the casualties. The large number of psychological victims presents an immediate problem of hospital surge capacity. The need for alleviating acute suffering and preventing chronic, disabling posttraumatic syndromes requires organizational and clinical skills. The article reviews deployment and intervention protocols for the treatment of victims and affected staff members in a general hospital setting.     

Exploring the Nature of Traumatic Memory

Summary

For over 100 years clinicians have observed and described the unusual nature of traumatic memories. It has been repeatedly and consistently observed that these memories are characterized by fragmentary and intense sensations and affects, often with little or no verbal narrative content. Yet, possibly because traumatic memories cannot be precipitated under laboratory conditions, the organization of traumatic memories has received little systematic scientific investigation. In our laboratory we have developed an instrument, the Traumatic Memory Inventory (TMI), which systematically assesses the ways that memories of traumatic experience are organized and retrieved over time. In this article we report findings from our third study using the TMI, of 16 subjects who had the traumatic experience of awakening from general anesthesia during surgery. We assessed changes in traumatic memory characteristics over time and differences between memories of subjects with and without current Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Our findings suggest the need for more rigorous methods for the assessment of the evolution of traumatic memories. In order to develop a comprehensive and integrated understanding of the nature of traumatic memory, we need to combine careful clinical observations with repli-cable laboratory methods, including those of cognitive science and neuroscience.     

Group Therapy as an Ecological Bridge to New Community for Trauma Survivors

Abstract

Group therapy counteracts the isolating effects of interpersonal trauma and enables survivors to connect with sources of resilience within themselves and others. By providing an alternative relational experience in which the survivor and her safety are valued, groups empower members to establish self-affirming and supportive relationships in their outside lives. The current paper reviews the psychological impact of chronic interpersonal violence and the relevant literature regarding group therapy for trauma survivors. We describe an approach to group treatment for complexly traumatized patients developed at the Victims of Violence Program, and through a clinical vignette, illustrate some of the ways in which group therapy can expand the relational world of survivors.