Risk factors predict post-traumatic stress disorder differently in men and women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>About twice as many women as men develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), even though men as a group are exposed to more traumatic events. Exposure to different trauma types does not sufficiently explain why women are more vulnerable.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The present work examines the effect of age, previous trauma, negative affectivity (NA), anxiety, depression, persistent dissociation, and social support on PTSD separately in men and women. Subjects were exposed to either a series of explosions in a firework factory near a residential area or to a high school stabbing incident.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Some gender differences were found in the predictive power of well known risk factors for PTSD. Anxiety predicted PTSD in men, but not in women, whereas the opposite was found for depression. Dissociation was a better predictor for PTSD in women than in men in the explosion sample but not in the stabbing sample. Initially, NA predicted PTSD better in women than men in the explosion sample, but when compared only to other significant risk factors, it significantly predicted PTSD for both men and women in both studies. Previous traumatic events and age did not significantly predict PTSD in either gender.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Gender differences in the predictive value of social support on PTSD appear to be very complex, and no clear conclusions can be made based on the two studies included in this article.</p

Abstract Reasoning and Friendship in High Functioning Preadolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders

To investigate the relationship between cognitive and social functioning, 20 Israeli individuals with HFASD aged 8–12 and 22 age, maternal education, and receptive vocabulary–matched preadolescents with typical development (TYP) came to the lab with a close friend. Measures of abstract reasoning, friendship quality, and dyadic interaction during a play session were obtained. As hypothesized, individuals with HFASD were significantly impaired in abstract reasoning, and there were significant group differences in friend and observer reports of friendship quality. There also was consistency in reports between friends. Two factors—“relationship appearance” and “relationship quality” described positive aspects of the relationships. Disability status and age related to relationship appearance. Proband abstract reasoning was related to relationship quality

Negative and positive childhood experiences across developmental periods in psychiatric patients with different diagnoses – an explorative study

BACKGROUND: A high frequency of childhood abuse has often been reported in adult psychiatric patients. The present survey explores the relationship between psychiatric diagnoses and positive and negative life events during childhood and adulthood in psychiatric samples. METHODS: A total of 192 patients with diagnoses of alcohol-related disorders (n = 45), schizophrenic disorders (n = 52), affective disorders (n = 54), and personality disorders (n = 41) completed a 42-item self-rating scale (Traumatic Antecedents Questionnaire, TAQ). The TAQ assesses personal positive experiences (competence and safety) and negative experiences (neglect, separation, secrets, emotional, physical and sexual abuse, trauma witnessing, other traumas, and alcohol and drugs abuse) during four developmental periods, beginning from early childhood to adulthood. Patients were recruited from four Psychiatric hospitals in Germany, Switzerland, and Romania; 63 subjects without any history of mental illness served as controls. RESULTS: The amount of positive experiences did not differ significantly among groups, except for safety scores that were lower in patients with personality disorders as compared to the other groups. On the other side, negative experiences appeared more frequently in patients than in controls. Emotional neglect and abuse were reported in patients more frequently than physical and sexual abuse, with negative experiences encountered more often in late childhood and adolescence than in early childhood. The patients with alcohol-related and personality disorders reported more negative events than the ones with schizophrenic and affective disorders. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings add evidence to the relationship between retrospectively reported childhood experiences and psychiatric diagnoses, and emphasize the fact that a) emotional neglect and abuse are the most prominent negative experiences, b) adolescence is a more 'sensitive' period for negative experiences as compared to early childhood, and c) a high amount of reported emotional and physical abuse occurs in patients with alcohol-related and personality disorders respectively

Children’s discursive constructions of the ‘self’

The ways in which children construct and assign meaning to the ‘self’ could have an impact on their social and emotional well-being, including their coping skills, relationship formation, and behaviour. Furthermore, a child’s understanding of the ‘self’ could influence the way in which they make meaning out of their experiences and internalize these experiences as a means of understanding one’s abilities and self-worth. Conditions of poverty and oppression could negatively impact the development of the self-concept and a child’s overall well-being. Such conditions exist in South Africa, where the aftermath of apartheid’s system of structural racism continues in the form of social inequity, poverty, and violence. This study utilized a child participation framework to explore children’s discursive constructions of and meanings assigned to the ‘self’ within two urban communities of the Western Cape, South Africa. Eight focus group discussions were conducted amongst fifty-four children between the ages of nine to twelve. Thematic and discourse analysis were used to analyse the findings. The themes of childhood, social connectedness, and children’s spaces were identified as key influences on a child’s self-concept. Four underlying discourses emerged within the themes as central to the participant’s self-constructions. These included; (1) ‘forfeited childhood,’ (2) ‘vulnerability and helplessness,’ (3) ‘preserving the integrity of the self,’ and (4) opportunitiwes for escape.

Skin and psyche--from the surface to the depth of the inner world

About 30% of dermatology patients have signs or symptoms of psychological problems. Dermatologists should be familiar with the basics needed to identify, advise and treat these patients.Because of the complex interaction between skin and psyche, it is difficult to distinguish whether the primary problem is the skin or the psyche. Sometimes the clinical picture is a consequence of interactions between them and other factors.The interactions between skin and psyche are well known in history, art and literature--perhaps better known today because the marked emphasis on such images in our modern multimedia society. Aging is increasingly perceived as an illness and not as a physiological process. Through globalization, many different cultural approaches to the skin have entered in our daily life and influence our communication. This article considers the most important dermatoses which often show primary or secondary interaction with the psyche