The Relation of Parental Depression to Posttraumatic Stress in Bosnian Youths: The Mediating Role of Filial Responsibility

This study examined the role of filial responsibility as a mediator between parental depression and posttraumatic stress symptomatology (PTSS) in Bosnian youths. The sample consisted of 145 6PthP-8PthP grade boys and girls and their parents. Unfairness and caregiving scales were combined in an interaction term to test the hypothesis. Parental depression significantly predicted parental report of adolescent PTSS but the filial responsibility variables did not significantly mediate the relationship between parental depression and PTSS. A post-hoc analysis examined the role of filial responsibility mediating the relationship between parental education level and PTSS. The interaction terms did not significantly mediate the relationship but the unfairness variable significantly mediated the relationship between parental education level and adolescent report of PTSS

Getting Better after Torture from the Perspective of the Survivor

The traditional model of Western mental health treatment for survivors of torture has focused mainly on posttraumatic stress disorder and related conditions. This model is symptoms-focused in which the goal is to reduce pathology. In this model, the mental health professional is the expert and the survivors learn from the professionals. Using grounded theory methodology, the current study seeks to expand the understanding for treatment of torture survivors by investigating, from the perspective of the torture survivors, the process of “getting better” after torture. By asking the survivors to explain this process, this study broadens the focus of areas of healing and intervention to include social, psychological, political, and biological aspects of their lives that need to be impacted in order for them to get better. Eleven adult torture survivors (9 men and 2 women) from various African and Asian countries described their process of getting better through qualitative interviews. A model of getting better was developed to describe this process. The central phenomenon of this process is moving on from difficult past experiences. Participants described a multi-dimensional process that includes various environmental factors and intrapersonal beliefs and coping strategies that promoted moving on and getting better. These multi-dimensional themes include using belief and value systems, establishing safety and stability, and establishing social support in order to move on. Once the survivors felt a sense of safety and support, they felt empowered to take action to move on from their past. These action strategies include disclosing torture experiences, controlling memories, supporting others, and utilizing available supports. Moving on led to improved relationships, more adaptive functioning, improved health, and release from emotional pain. Findings of this study were consistent with current literature documenting recovery after torture and other traumatic experiences. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed and directions for future research are delineated

Trauma-Informed Pediatric Primary Care: Facilitators and Challenges to the Implementation Process

This article describes the process of integrating trauma-informed behavioral health practices into a pediatric primary care clinic serving low-income and minority families while facing barriers of financial, staffing, and time limitations common to many community healthcare clinics. By using an iterative approach to evaluate each step of the implementation process, the goal was to establish a feasible system in which primary care providers take the lead in addressing traumatic stress. This article describes (1) the process of implementing trauma-informed care into a pediatric primary care clinic, (2) the facilitators and challenges of implementation, and (3) the impact of this implementation process at patient, provider, and community levels. Given the importance of trauma-informed care, especially for families who lack access to quality care, the authors conceptualize this paper as a guide for others attempting to integrate best behavioral health practices into pediatric clinics while working with limited resources

My World Is Upside Down : Transnational Iraqi Youth and Parent Perspectives on Resettlement in the United States

The U.S. war with Iraq led to the displacement of millions of Iraqis, many of whom have resettled in the United States as refugees. We explore the challenges Iraqi families face after resettlement, with a particular focus on the agency of refugees and challenges/opportunities of familial social reproduction in a transnational context. We conducted 181 qualitative interviews with 38 Iraqis (11 youth, 27 adults) and 5 service providers. Our findings highlight the importance of exploring refugee agency and illuminate how the interplay between structure and agency in transnational contexts is a useful framework for understanding transformations around social roles

Seeing the Life : Redefining self-worth and family roles among Iraqi refugee families resettled in the United States.

Social and geographic displacement is a global phenomenon that precipitates novel stressors and disruptions that intersect with longstanding familial and social roles. Among the displaced are war-torn Iraqi refugee families, who must address these new obstacles in unconventional ways. This study explores how such disruptions have influenced associations between gender and apparent self-worth experienced by Iraqi refugee families upon relocation to the United States. Further, the psychosocial mechanisms requisite of any novel approach to a new social construct are explored and reveal that production in the family is at the core of instability and shifting power dynamics during resettlement, preventing family members from seeing the life in the United States that they had envisioned prior to immigration. Over 200 semi-structured qualitative interviews with Iraqi participants and mental health providers were conducted over the course of the study, and demonstrate a plasticity among social roles in the family and community that transcends the notion of a simple role reversal, and illustrate the complex positionalities that families under stress must approximate during such physical and social displacement