European Journal of Psychotraumatology

Background: Women are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than men. Recent research suggests an impact of oral contraceptive (OC) intake on PTSD and intrusive memories, a hallmark symptom of PTSD. Although a majority of women use OCs at some point in their lives, the effects on PTSD pathogenesis are only poorly understood. Objective: In the current paper, we aimed to investigate the impact of OC intake on the acquisition and consolidation of intrusive memories in healthy women after watching a trauma film paradigm...

This Special Issue of the European Journal of Psychotraumatology (EJPT) presents 51 articles published between 2021 and 2023 and follows the Special Issue on pandemic-related traumatic stress research published in 2021 (O'Donnell, M. L., & Greene, T. [2021]. Understanding the mental health impacts of COVID-19 through a trauma lens. European Journal of Psychotraumatology , 12 (1), 1982502). Research on traumatic stress during the pandemic has cast the spotlight on vulnerable populations and groups, notably front-line healthcare workers; people faced with major losses including the deaths of loved ones; those who personally survived debilitating and often life-threatening viral infection; and students who were isolated and experienced profound delays in their education, relationships, and emerging independence...

Background: After a traumatic incident in the workplace organisations want to provide support for their employees to prevent PTSD. However, what is safe and effective to offer has not yet been established, despite many organisations offering some form of intervention after a traumatic event. Objective: To systematically review the evidence for post-incident psychosocial interventions offered within one month of a workplace trauma, and to compare the content, effectiveness and acceptability of these interventions...

Background: The experience of stalking presents a threat to the mental and physical health and wellbeing of victims. Although some studies have explored the impact of stalking on victims, few have gone into detail about specific mental health outcomes and their association with various types of stalking behaviour. Objective: To investigate the psychological consequences among Danish help-seeking victims of stalking who have contacted and received help through the Danish Stalking Center (DSC). Methods: We used survey-data from stalking victims who sought and received help from the DSC during 2015-2020 ( N  = 591)...

Background: Although child maltreatment (CM) has been linked to health problems and poor psychosocial functioning, not all individuals exposed to CM develop or experience negative consequences later in life. This suggests that some individuals show resilience after being exposed to CM. However, conclusions have been limited by inconsistent findings across different CM subtypes and resilience domains. Objective: To develop a protocol for conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify associations between CM (overall and its subtypes) and resilience (global and its multiple domains) in adulthood, and to examine moderators and mediators of these associations...

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common in people with serious mental illness who come into contact with the criminal justice system. Little evidence exists on EMDR treatment in forensic mental health, with no prior qualitative research exploring lived experience perspectives. Objective: This qualitative study recruited adult forensic mental health patients with PTSD and psychotic disorders, predominantly schizophrenia, who had received EMDR as part of a clinical trial, either in prison or in hospital...

Background: Sexual assault and alcohol use are significant public health concerns, including for the United States (US) military. Although alcohol is a risk factor for military sexual assault (MSA), research on the extent of alcohol-involvement in MSAs has not been synthesised. Objective: Accordingly, this scoping review is a preliminary step in evaluating the existing literature on alcohol-involved MSAs among US service members and veterans, with the goals of quantifying the prevalence of alcohol-involved MSA, examining differences in victim versus perpetrator alcohol consumption, and identifying additional knowledge gaps...

Background: Intensive PTSD treatment programs (ITPs) are highly effective but tend to differ greatly in length and the number of adjunctive services that are provided in conjunction with evidence-based PTSD treatments. Individuals' treatment response to more or less comprehensive ITPs is poorly understood. Objective: To apply a machine learning-based decision-making model (the Personalized Advantage Index (PAI)), using clinical and demographic factors to predict response to more or less comprehensive ITPs. Methods: The PAI was developed and tested on a sample of 747 veterans with PTSD who completed a 3-week (more comprehensive; n  = 360) or 2-week (less comprehensive; n  = 387) ITP...

Background: Persons displaced by conflict often consider returning to their area of origin. Lack of reliable information about conditions in the area of origin makes this decision more difficult. Displaced persons address this by seeking information from other sources, but must then assess the credibility of these sources. Objective: This study examines the role of symptoms of posttraumatic stress as a moderator of how information from a trustworthy source influences return intentions among displaced persons...

Background: Partners and family can play a key role in encouraging military service and ex-service personnel to seek help for their mental health. Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training (CRAFT) was developed to equip concerned significant others (CSOs) of those experiencing substance use disorders with skills to encourage their loved one to enter treatment and improve their own well-being. It was adapted in the US for CSOs of ex-service personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (VA-CRAFT)...

Background: With the release of the text revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5-TR), criteria for Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) were included. This necessitates studying grief trajectories based on these criteria. Objective: This is the first study examining latent trajectories of DSM-5-TR-based PGD symptom levels and testing whether specific risk factors (e.g. cause of death) predicted PGD trajectories. Method: We evaluated latent DSM-5-TR PGD trajectories using pooled existing data collected at 6-12, 13-24, and 25-60 months post-loss in Danish and Dutch bereaved adults ( N  = 398)...

Background: Government actions and participating in protracted-duration protests against it affect protesters' mental health, leading to high distress levels, such as posttraumatic and depressive symptoms. Aside from exposure to violence and other issues, protest participation can pose unique challenges to the protesters as they may be exposed to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs), such as the betrayal of leaders they once trusted. This study's primary objective was to examine the extent of psychological difficulties among civilians participating in long-duration protests in Israel...

Introduction: Public safety personnel (PSP), including firefighters, paramedics, and police officers, are exposed to traumatic events as part of their day-to-day jobs. These traumatic events often result in significant stress and increase the likelihood of negative mental health outcomes, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study sought to develop an in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of PSPs as related to the mental health toll of their service. Through a series of targeted focus groups, Canadian PSP were asked to provide their perspectives on the PTSD-related symptoms that resulted as a by-product of their occupational service...

Background: Supporting wellbeing beyond symptom reduction is necessary in trauma care. Research suggests increased posttraumatic growth (PTG) may promote wellbeing more effectively than posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom reduction alone. Understanding neurobiological mechanisms of PTG would support PTG intervention development. However, most PTG research to-date has been cross-sectional data self-reported through surveys or interviews. Objective: Neural evidence of PTG and its coexistence with resilience and PTSD is limited...

Background: Employees and volunteers at national socialism related memorial sites in Germany (MemoS) are confronted with severely aversive documents of German history on a regular basis. Objective: Enhance knowledge on mental health in MemoS. Method: In an online study, mental distress, secondary traumatisation as well as potential risk and protective factors were assessed in MemoS and a control group. Results: 40.9% of MemoS reported at least one kind of secondary traumatic event experienced in the context of their work...

Background: Due to the short time that complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) has been an independent diagnosis, few studies have explored the role that self-esteem might play in the relationship between childhood trauma and CPTSD. Objective: The current study aimed to explore the impact of childhood trauma on CPTSD and the role of self-esteem in this relationship. Methods: Study 1 involved a questionnaire survey in which a total of 360 young Chinese adults with childhood trauma participated. Study 2 used experimental research by manipulating short-term self-esteem to explore the effect of self-esteem on CPTSD...

In the recent article 'Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression following the 2018 Strasbourg Christmas Market terrorist attack: a comparison of exposed and non-exposed police personnel,' important insights are provided about the association between terrorism exposure and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, in our opinion, there are several methodological issues that limit the results of this study. In this letter, we discuss the problematic use of partial PTSD, the adjustment of the PCL-5 to refer only to a specific terrorist attack, and the significance of criterion A...

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the high prevalence of dissociative symptoms and their association with considerable healthcare costs. However, there is a lack of studies that describe whether dissociative symptoms persist and lead to other clinical outcomes over time in the community. Objectives: This study investigated the persistence, predictors, and consequences of dissociative symptoms in the community. Methods: We analyzed longitudinal data in a sample of community health service users in Hong Kong ( N  = 173)...

Background: As Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adolescents significantly impacts their well-being, effective treatment is of great importance. Little is known, however, about the novel, multi-modal virtual reality supported, exposure-based psychotherapeutic interventions such as 3MDR in this population. Objective: To describe the 3MDR treatment of an adolescent with PTSD who did not respond to previous exposure-based PTSD interventions. Method: A 14-year-old girl diagnosed with PTSD received six sessions of 3MDR embedded in family therapy...

Background: There is extensive literature on front-line officers and investigators exposure to trauma and its negative impact on them. However, there are analytical practitioners in law enforcement who indirectly work with the traumatic experiences of other people daily, but are seldom the focus of academic research. Objective: Our goal was to conduct the first international study with these practitioners to identify the risk of depression symptoms and establish whether potentially modifiable risk factors (belief in a just world, mental imagery and thought suppression) and work-related characteristics (medium of exposure) are associated with depression...