The protective function of personal growth initiative among a genocide-affected population in Rwanda

The aim of the current study was to investigate the extent to which individual differences in personal growth initiative (PGI) were associated with lower reports of functional impairment of daily activities among a genocide-affected population in Rwanda. PGI measures an individual’s motivation to develop as a person and the extent to which he or she is active in setting goals that work toward achieving self-improvement. We found that PGI was negatively associated with functional impairment when controlling for depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other demographic factors. Our results suggest that PGI may constitute an important mindset for facilitating adaptive functioning in the aftermath of adversity and in the midst of psychological distress, and as such they might have practical applications for the development of intervention programs

Examining the functional utility of personal growth initiative in a war-affected Sri Lankan Tamil sample

The present study explored personal growth initiative (PGI;Robitschek, 1998)—the extent a person is motivated to and actively sets goals towards achieving self-improvement—and its relationship to functional impairment and life satisfaction among a war-affected Sri Lankan sample. 200 war-affected Tamil individuals in Sri Lanka completed measures of PGI, wartime experiences, functional impairment, and life satisfaction. Two hierarchical regressions were conducted examining current life satisfaction and degree of functional impairment. After controlling for depression and wartime experiences, PGI was positively associated with life satisfaction. However, no association was observed between PGI and reduced functional impairment. In contrast to other contexts of ethnopolitical violence, PGI was associated with subjective well-being, but not improved functioning. These results have implications for potential utilityof PGI across different contexts of ethnopolitical warfare

Knowing when someone is resilient: Development and validation of a measure of adaptive functioning among war-affected Sri Lankan Tamils

Current measures of adaptive functioning are typically validated using samples from Western populations, which limit their utility in non-Western populations. The present study examines the development and utility of a locally derived measure of adaptive functioning, the Penn/RESIST/Peradeniya Competencies (PRPC) Scale, among Tamil survivors of the Sri Lankan civil war. This scale—developed using data from 622 qualitative interviews of war-affected Sri Lankan Tamils—was administered to three samples of war survivors (N ​= ​539) and was shown to have a three-factor structure that overlapped with domains identified through coding of the qualitative data: religious faith, community respect, and family responsibility. These three domains predicted lower levels of impaired functioning in daily life, as well as lower levels of depression and anxiety as measured by culturally sensitive assessments. Additionally, these domains predicted subjective trajectories of life satisfaction indicative of an adaptive sense of personal identity. These results highlight the value of culturally sensitive measures of adaptive functioning

Primum Non Nocere (First Do No Harm): Symptom Worsening And Improvement In Female Assault Victims After Prolonged Exposure For Ptsd

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106816/1/da22225.pd

How does culture impact psychopathology? A quantitative and qualitative examination of trauma-related anxiety and depression in a non-Western, war-affected population

My program of research identifies the manner in which the presentation and experience of trauma-related anxiety (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) and depression varies in different cultures. In studies 1 and 2, I examined the factor structure of PTSD and depression in a war-affected non-Western country (Sri Lanka). This was done through confirmatory factor analysis of the Tamil-language versions of the PTSD Symptom Scale (PSS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) collected from a sample of 197 war-affected Tamil individuals living in North-Eastern Sri Lanka. Neither the PSS-SR nor the BDI fit any established models. Exploratory factor analyses revealed factor structures similar to established models, but with a number of items either loading on different factors or not loading on any factor. In study 3, I developed a self-report measure of general war problems for a Sri Lankan Tamil population - the Penn/RESIST/Peradeniya War Problems Questionnaire (PRPWPQ) - which includes a psychiatric symptoms subscale consisting of local idioms of distress. This measure was developed through the coding of qualitative data (604 individual interviews asking people about war problems) from a Tamil population in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. In study 4, the PRPWPQ was administered along with established self-report measures of depression and PTSD (namely the Posttraumatic Symptoms Inventory [PSS] and the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]) to a sample of 197 war-affected Sri Lankan Tamil individuals. Exploratory factor analysis of the items in the psychiatric symptom section of the PRPWPQ revealed 3 factors: anxiety, depression and negative perception. Regression analyses were conducted to examine whether these 3 factors from the new measure better predicted functional impairment (as measured by the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale) than the established measures (the PSS and BDI). I hypothesized that instruments containing local idioms of distress would better predict functional impairment than translated versions of measures developed for other cultures. This hypothesis was confirmed, with the anxiety and depression factors significantly predicting functional impairment after controlling for demographic variables and the PSS and BDI. Implications of these studies and directions for future research are discussed

Association Rule Learning Is an Easy and Efficient Method for Identifying Profiles of Traumas and Stressors that Predict Psychopathology in Disaster Survivors: The Example of Sri Lanka

Research indicates that psychopathology in disaster survivors is a function of both experienced trauma and stressful life events. However, such studies are of limited utility to practitioners who are about to go into a new post-disaster setting as (1) most of them do not indicate which specific traumas and stressors are especially likely to lead to psychopathology; and (2) each disaster is characterized by its own unique traumas and stressors, which means that practitioners have to first collect their own data on common traumas, stressors and symptoms of psychopathology prior to planning any interventions. An easy-to-use and easy-to-interpret data analytical method that allows one to identify profiles of trauma and stressors that predict psychopathology would be of great utility to practitioners working in post-disaster contexts. We propose that association rule learning (ARL), a big data mining technique, is such a method. We demonstrate the technique by applying it to data from 337 survivors of the Sri Lankan civil war who completed the Penn/RESIST/Peradeniya War Problems Questionnaire (PRPWPQ), a comprehensive, culturally-valid measure of experienced trauma, stressful life events, anxiety and depression. ARL analysis revealed five profiles of traumas and stressors that predicted the presence of some anxiety, three profiles that predicted the presence of severe anxiety, four profiles that predicted the presence of some depression and five profiles that predicted the presence of severe depression. ARL allows one to identify context-specific associations between specific traumas, stressors and psychological distress, and can be of great utility to practitioners who wish to efficiently analyze data that they have collected, understand the output of that analysis, and use it to provide psychosocial aid to those who most need it in post-disaster settings

How does culture impact psychopathology? A quantitative and qualitative examination of trauma-related anxiety and depression in a non-Western, war-affected population

My program of research identifies the manner in which the presentation and experience of trauma-related anxiety (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) and depression varies in different cultures. In studies 1 and 2, I examined the factor structure of PTSD and depression in a war-affected non-Western country (Sri Lanka). This was done through confirmatory factor analysis of the Tamil-language versions of the PTSD Symptom Scale (PSS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) collected from a sample of 197 war-affected Tamil individuals living in North-Eastern Sri Lanka. Neither the PSS-SR nor the BDI fit any established models. Exploratory factor analyses revealed factor structures similar to established models, but with a number of items either loading on different factors or not loading on any factor. In study 3, I developed a self-report measure of general war problems for a Sri Lankan Tamil population - the Penn/RESIST/Peradeniya War Problems Questionnaire (PRPWPQ) - which includes a psychiatric symptoms subscale consisting of local idioms of distress. This measure was developed through the coding of qualitative data (604 individual interviews asking people about war problems) from a Tamil population in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. In study 4, the PRPWPQ was administered along with established self-report measures of depression and PTSD (namely the Posttraumatic Symptoms Inventory [PSS] and the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]) to a sample of 197 war-affected Sri Lankan Tamil individuals. Exploratory factor analysis of the items in the psychiatric symptom section of the PRPWPQ revealed 3 factors: anxiety, depression and negative perception. Regression analyses were conducted to examine whether these 3 factors from the new measure better predicted functional impairment (as measured by the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale) than the established measures (the PSS and BDI). I hypothesized that instruments containing local idioms of distress would better predict functional impairment than translated versions of measures developed for other cultures. This hypothesis was confirmed, with the anxiety and depression factors significantly predicting functional impairment after controlling for demographic variables and the PSS and BDI. Implications of these studies and directions for future research are discussed

Collective narcissism and its social consequences

This paper introduces the concept of collective narcissism - an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief about the in-group’s greatness – aiming to explain how feelings about an ingroup shape a tendency to aggress against out-groups. The results of 5 studies indicate that collective, but not individual, narcissism predicts inter-group aggressiveness. Collective narcissism is related to high private and low public collective self esteem and low implicit group esteem. It predicts perceived threat from out-groups, unwillingness to forgive outgroups and preference for military aggression over and above social dominance orientation, right wing authoritarianism, and blind patriotism. The relationship between collective narcissism and aggressiveness is mediated by perceived threat from out-groups and perceived insult to the in-group. In sum, the results indicate that collective narcissism is a form of high but ambivalent group esteem related to sensitivity to threats to the in-group’s image and retaliatory aggression

What does it mean to flourish, languish, and grow? A qualitative analysis of civilian interviews from survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide

The current study investigated characteristics of resilience and posttraumatic growth in a sample of Rwandan genocide survivors. One hundred and sixty-three participants provided responses to a series of open-ended questions about resilient functioning among members of their community, as well as their own experiences of posttraumatic growth since the genocide. An overall theme in the responses was the role of environmental characteristics in both resilience and posttraumatic growth, which was apparent through the high frequency of codes such as family, means, work, and education. Furthermore, there was considerable overlap in identified domains of resilient functioning and posttraumatic growth. The results suggest that in this particular context, resilience is predominantly characterized by environmental features rather than individual characteristics. This has implications for interventions in Rwanda as well as the validity of current models and measures of resilience and posttraumatic growth in different cultures