Don’t Panic: Common Sense and the Student Voice in a Transitional Guide

The Scottish Enhancement Theme of Transitions has largely been explored by institutions in terms of pre/post undergraduate degree, with a tangential focus on employability. Less considered are transitions between and through undergraduate levels, despite the impact they have on successful student engagement and retention (Whittle, 2015). To ensure positive transition through their degree, students must be engaged in dialogue with staff and have the opportunity to influence curriculum adaptation and development (Bovill, Cook-Sather, & Felten, 2011). Having experienced the Honours year from both a student and tutor perspective, the authors developed Don’t Panic: The Psych/Soc Student’s Guide to Fourth Year. A practical response to student concerns, the guide was designed to reflect the final year ‘life cycle’ with the simple aim of offering honest advice and encouragement to psychology and sociology students at Queen Margaret University (QMU), as an informal companion to the dissertation handbook. Development is ongoing, and following dissemination activities the guide has attracted interest from students and faculty across the United Kingdom and beyond. It is apparent that several institutions lack such a form of support for final year students – and while Don’t Panic is not presented as the solution to all transitional problems, it can serve as an example of innovation to empower the student voice. Don’t Panic has led to the author’s increasing involvement in, and understanding of, issues relating to learning and teaching, access and retention. They reflect on these matters in academic and professional literature, through the prism of their own student-to-staff transitional experience.5

Is earlier obesity associated with poorer executive functioning later in childhood? Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Children affected with overweight or obesity have been associated with having lower educational achievement compared to peers who are non-overweight/obese. One of the drivers of this association could be a link between obesity and poorer executive function. Evidence is limited to small, cross-sectional studies which lack adjustment for important common causes. OBJECTIVE: We investigate the association between weight status and executive function longitudinally in mid-childhood, accounting for potential common causes. METHODS: Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between weight status between 5 and 7 years and executive functioning at 11 years in members of the Millennium Cohort Study (n = 7739), accounting for a wide range of potential common causes. Age- and sex-specific International Obesity Taskforce cut-points for body mass index (BMI) were used. Executive function, including decision-making, impulsivity and spatial working memory, was assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. RESULTS: There were no unadjusted associations between weight status and decision-making or impulsivity. After adjustment for all potential common causes, there was a lack of consistent evidence to support an association between persistent obesity (including overweight) between 5 and 7 years and spatial working memory task at 11 years. CONCLUSIONS: We found little evidence that poorer spatial working memory contributes to the association of children with obesity having lower educational achievement

Exploring the Perceived Impact of Parental PTSD on Parents and Parenting Behaviours—A Qualitative Study

A considerable number of adults who are currently living with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are also parents caring for at least one biological child. Evidence suggests that parental PTSD can be associated with impairments to certain parenting behaviours, particularly increasing the use of more negative practices. However, most of the evidence to date has been collected using quantitative methodology, which gives limited insight into why such effects might occur. The current study qualitatively explored study the lived experiences of parents currently living with PTSD, within the United Kingdom. Interviews were conducted with 30 parents (16 mothers, 14 fathers) who were recruited via a PTSD research registry, and who had children living at home under the age of 18 years at the time they experienced their trauma. Three main themes were identified: key impacts of the trauma to the parent personally; negative changes to specific parenting outcomes; impact of these parenting changes on the parent’s sense of parental efficacy; and recovery and coping. These findings provide novel insight into the experiences of both mothers and fathers with PTSD, and highlight the multiple challenges faced by parents living with PTSD that extend beyond impairments to themselves as individuals. Potential implications for the implementation of effective support for parents and their families following trauma exposure are considered

Post-Trauma Coping in the Context of Significant Adversity: A Qualitative Study of Young People Living in an Urban Township in South Africa

CITATION: Hiller, R. M. et al. 2017. Post-trauma coping in the context of significant adversity : a qualitative study of young people living in an urban township in South Africa, BMJ Open, 7(10):e016560. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016560.The original publication is available at https://bmjopen.bmj.com/Objective Compared with knowledge of the post-trauma needs of young people living in developed countries, little is known about the needs of those in low-middle-income countries. Such information is crucial, particularly as young people in these environments can be at increased risk of experiencing trauma, coupled with less available resources for formal support. The aim of this study was to explore post-trauma coping and support-seeking of young people living in a high-adversity settlement in South Africa. Design Semistructured qualitative interviews analysed using thematic analysis. Setting An urban settlement (‘township’) in Cape Town, South Africa. Participants 25 young people, aged 13–17 years, who had experienced trauma. Events included serious car accidents, hearing of a friend’s violent death, and rape, and all reported having experienced multiple traumatic events. All participants identified as black South African and spoke Xhosa as their first language. Results Social support was considered key to coping after trauma, although the focus of the support differed depending on the source. Parents would most commonly provide practical support, particularly around safety. Peers often provided an avenue to discuss the event and young person’s emotional well-being more openly. Outside of social support another key theme was that there were numerous community-level barriers to participants receiving support following trauma. Many young people continued to be exposed to the perpetrator of the event, while there was also the realistic concern around future traumas and safety, community stigma and a perceived lack of justice. Conclusion This study provides insight into how young people cope and seek support following trauma when they are living in a context of significant adversity and risk. Overall, most young people identified helpful sources of support and thought talking about the event was a useful strategy, but concerns around safety and trust could impede this process.publishers versio

Psychological interventions for individuals bereaved by homicide: a systematic review

Research has demonstrated that approximately 45-50% of individuals show healthy levels of psychological and physical functioning in the first 12 months post-loss. Homicidal bereavement (loss due to murder or manslaughter) does not appear to follow this pattern. Homicide-related mental health difficulties are a serious problem worldwide, displaying high rates of lifetime incidence, high chronicity, and role impairment. Individuals are at increased risk to develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complicated grief (CG), and depression. Nevertheless, a systematic review specifically on the efficacy of psychological interventions following homicidal loss has not yet been conducted. The current systematic review (registered via PROSPERO) aimed to review the psychological interventions available and report their effectiveness. Of 77 records, 7 met predefined inclusion criteria. Studies presented different methodologies, tested different clinical models, and treatment conditions. Thus, a narrative systematic review was conducted. Studies included manualized interventions to deliver 1:1 and group sessions. Cognitive behavioral therapy, restorative retelling, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing were the main models used together with psychoeducational elements about trauma and grief responses. Overall, symptoms of PTSD, CG, and depression decreased significantly postintervention. Sustained improvements were reported for PTSD and depressive symptoms at the follow-up measurements. Mixed results were found regarding how individual (age, gender) and external factors (time since loss, relationship with the deceased) impact on symptom progression. As a result of differences in methodologies, categorization of therapies, methodological differences, and small sample sizes, important questions remain unanswered. Further randomized controlled trials and expert consensus could be considered

Exploring the Perceived Impact of Parental PTSD on Parents and Parenting Behaviours – A Qualitative Study

A considerable number of adults who are currently living with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are also parents caring for at least one biological child. Evidence suggests that parental PTSD can be associated with impairments to certain parenting behaviours, particularly increasing the use of more negative practices. However, most of the evidence to date has been collected using quantitative methodology, which gives limited insight into why such effects might occur. The current study qualitatively explored study the lived experiences of parents currently living with PTSD, within the United Kingdom. Interviews were conducted with 30 parents (16 mothers, 14 fathers) who were recruited via a PTSD research registry, and who had children living at home under the age of 18 years at the time they experienced their trauma. Three main themes were identified: key impacts of the trauma to the parent personally; negative changes to specific parenting outcomes; impact of these parenting changes on the parent’s sense of parental efficacy; and recovery and coping. These findings provide novel insight into the experiences of both mothers and fathers with PTSD, and highlight the multiple challenges faced by parents living with PTSD that extend beyond impairments to themselves as individuals. Potential implications for the implementation of effective support for parents and their families following trauma exposure are considered