Adult attachment and emotional responses to traumatic memories among Palestinian former political prisoners

The association between attachment styles and emotional responses to traumatic memories was examined among 153 Palestinian former political prisoners. Self-report tools revealing adult attachment and intensity and valence of emotional responses were applied. As hypothesized, a high intensity of cognitive appraisal and a low intensity of affective responses characterized the emotional profile of insecure-dismissing men. By contrast, the emotional profile of insecure-preoccupied men was characterized by low cognitive and high affective responses, and intensive behavioral urge to act. Secure men in turn had a moderate and balanced emotional profile involving both cognitive and affective responses. In accordance with the activation hypothesis, when exposed to a high level of torture and ill-treatment, the insecure-preoccupied men showed especially intensive affective and behavioral responses. Contrary to

Prevalence and determinants of PTSD among Palestinian children exposed to military violence

Abstract. The prevalence and determinants of PTSD were assessed among 121 Palestinian children (6–16 years; 45% girls and 55% boys) living in the area of bombardment. The mothers (21–55 years) and the children themselves reported their exposure to military violence (being personally the target of violence or witnessing it towards others) and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD: intrusion, avoidance and hypervigilance). The results showed that 54% of the children suffered from severe, 33.5 % from moderate and 11 % from mild and doubtful levels of PTSD. Girls were more vulnerable; 58% of them suffered from severe PTSD, and none scored on the mild or doubtful levels of PTSD. The child’s gender and age, mother’s education and PTSD symptoms were significant, and the exposure to traumatic experiences marginally significant determinants of children’s PTSD

Usage of healthcare services and preference for mental healthcare among older Somali immigrants in Finland

Objectives: The aims of the study were, first, to describe and analyze healthcare services utilization patterns of older immigrants in Finland, and particularly to compare the availability and accessibility of health services between older Somalis and Finns. The second aim was to examine the preferences for mental healthcare within the group of Somalis. The third aim was to test the existence of a service usage gap expected to be characteristic of the Somali group, in which high levels of mental health problems occur alongside simultaneous low levels of mental health service usage. Design: The participants were 256 men and women between the ages of 50–85; half were Somali migrants and the other half Finnish matched pairs. The participants were surveyed regarding their usage of somatic, mental, and preventive health services, as well as symptoms of depression, general distress, and somatization. The Somali participants were also surveyed regarding their usage of traditional healing methods and preferences for mental healthcare. Results: The Somali group had significantly lower access to personal/family doctors at healthcare centers as well as a lower availability of private doctors and occupational health services than the Finns. Instead, they used more nursing services than Finnish patients. The Somali participants attended fewer age-salient preventive check-ups than the Finns. The majority of the Somalis preferred traditional care, most commonly religious healing, for mental health problems. The hypothesized service gap was not substantiated, as a high level of depressive symptoms was not associated with a low usage of health services among the Somalis, but it was found unexpectedly among the Finns. Conclusion: Our findings call for culturally appropriate general and mental health services for older immigrants, which requires awareness of clients’ preferences, needs, and alternative healing practices. Somali participants encountered institutional barriers in accessing healthcare, and they preferred informal mental healthcare, especially religious healing instead of Western practices.Peer reviewe

Adult attachment, posttraumatic growth and negative emotions among former political prisoners

Although traumatic events are generally associated with negative psychosocial consequences, trauma survivors also report positive changes in themselves, human relationships and spirituality. Our aims are, first to study associations between exposure to torture and ill-treatment and posttraumatic growth and negative emotions, and second, to examine the role of adult attachment in moderating the association between exposure and positive growth. The participants were 275 Palestinian men imprisoned in a political context. They completed the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), adult attachment questionnaire (AAQ) and reported exposure to traumatic events. The results show that a high level of torture and ill-treatment was associated with a low level of posttraumatic growth and a high level of negative emotions. However, adult attachment style moderated that association, among men with secure attachment

Can psychosocial intervention improve peer and sibling relations among war‐affected children? Impact and mediating analyses in a randomized controlled trial

Social resources are considered important protectors in traumatic conditions, but few studies have analyzed their role in psychosocial interventions among war‐affected children. We examined (1) whether a psychosocial intervention (teaching recovery techniques, TRT) is effective in improving peer and sibling relations, and (2) whether these potentially improved relations mediate the intervention's impacts on children's mental health. Participants were 428 Palestinian children [10–13 (mean = 11.29, standard deviation SD = .68)‐year‐old girls (49.4 percent) and boys (50.6 percent)], who were cluster‐randomized into the TRT and wait‐list control groups. They reported the quality of peer (friendship and loneliness) and sibling (intimacy, warmth, conflict, and rivalry) relations, and posttraumatic stress, depressive and psychological distress symptoms, as well as psychosocial well‐being at baseline (T1

Trauma, PTSD, and Traumatic Grief among Palestinian Children

Aim: The aim of this study was to find the relationship between war traumatic experiences due to war on Gaza, PTSD, and traumatic grief in Palestinian children. Methods: The sample included randomly selected 374 children aged 6-16 years. Children completed measures of experience of traumatic events (Gaza Traumatic Checklist), Child Post Traumatic Stress Reaction Index, and Traumatic Grief inventory. Results: Palestinians children experiences variety of traumatic events. No sex differences in reporting trauma. Mean traumatic events reported by children was 12.80 traumatic events. The study showed that 9.3% of the participants lost someone during the war. Mean traumatic grief in boys was 19.96 and 18.29 in girls. For PTSD, 1.3% of children showed no PTSD, 7.2% reported mild PTSD reactions, 29.9% showed moderate PTSD reactions, and 61.5% showed severe to very severe PTSD reactions. Trauma exposure was significantly associated with PTSD. No sex differences in PTSD. Conclusions: This study revealed that children living in area of conflict and war are at risk of developing mental health problems. Study showed that children with traumatic grief need psychosocial support from families and community to enable them of passing through their grief. Moreover, parents have to be involved in all activities given to their children and to be part of such activities to enable them better communication with their children and being able of detecting children with pathological grief and enable them of helping children in overcoming the effect of grief and trauma.We are grateful to the team who collected the data under enormous difficulties. Also, our many thanks to families and children who participated in this study, for their openness in sharing such difficult issues. Also to Mr. Khalil Megdad for his work as statistician in this study

Raskaudenaikainen huumeriippuvuus heijastuu äidin hyvinvointiin ja lapsen sosioemotionaaliseen kehitykseen

Vertaisarvioitu. English summary.Lähtökohdat : Tutkimus seurasi 51:tä avohoidon interventioita saavaa huumeriippuvaista äitiä ja 50 ¬normatiivista verrokkia loppuraskaudesta lapsen kouluikään. Tutkimme äidin huumeriippuvuuden lyhyt- ja pitkäaikaisvaikutuksia äidin ja lapsen hyvinvointiin ja lapsen kehitykseen. Menetelmät : Äidin mielenterveyttä tutkittiin kyselylomakkeilla, äiti-lapsivuorovaikutusta emotionaalisen saatavillaolon videomenetelmällä sekä lapsen kognitiivista ja sosioemotionaalista kehitystä äidin raportoimana ja psykologisin testein vauva- ja kouluiässä. Tulokset : Huumeriippuvaisilla äideillä oli enemmän masennus- ja ahdistusoireita varhaisvaiheissa ja enemmän vakavia päihde- ja mielenterveysongelmia lasten kouluiässä kuin verrokeilla. Heillä oli enemmän vuorovaikutusongelmia lapsen kanssa sekä vauva- että kouluiässä. Vuoden iässä lasten kehityksessä ei ollut eroja, mutta kouluiässä huumeryhmän lapsilla oli enemmän tarkkaavuus- ja mielenterveysoireita. Päätelmät : Varhaisen äitiyden tuki lisäsi äidin emotionaalista saatavuutta lapselleen, ja huumeiden käytön vaikutuksille altistuneiden lasten kehitys eteni hyvin ensimmäisen vuoden aikana. Se kuitenkin vaarantui kuormittavien kasvuolosuhteiden jatkuessa. Lasten psyykkistä kehitystä tulisi seurata ja tukea koko perhettä pitkäjänteisesti eri kehitysvaiheissa.Peer reviewe

Predictors of psychological distress and positive resources among Palestinian adolescents: Trauma, child, and mothering characteristics

Objective The aim was to examine how traumatic and stressful events, responses to violence, child characteristics, and mothering quality, as measured in middle childhood predict psychological distress and positive resources in adolescence. Method The participants were 65 Palestinian adolescents (17 ± .85 years; 52% girls), who had been studied during the First Intifada (T1), during the Palestinian Authority rule (T2) and before the Second Al Aqsa Intifada (T3) in Gaza. Psychological distress was indicated by PTSD, and depressive symptoms and positive resources by resilient attitudes and satisfaction with quality of life, all measured at T3. The predictors that were measured at T1 were exposure to military violence, active coping with violence and children's intelligence, cognitive capacity, and neuroticism. Mothering quality and stressful life-events were measured at T2, the former reported by both the mother and

The role of attachment in recovery after a school-shooting trauma (vol 4, 22728, 2014)

Peer reviewe

Trajectories of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) after major war among Palestinian children: Trauma, family-and child-related predictors

Objective Research shows great individual variation in changes in posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) after major traumas of terrorist attacks, military combat, and natural disasters. Earlier studies have identified specific mental health trajectories both in children and adults. This study aimed, first, to identify potential PTSS-related trajectories by using latent class growth analyses among children in a three-wave assessment after the 2008/2009 War on Gaza, Palestine. Second, it analyzed how family- and child related factors (e.g., attachment relations, posttraumatic cognitions (PTCs), guilt, and emotion regulation) associate with the trajectory class membership. Methods The sample consisted of 240 Palestinian children (49.4% girls and 50.6% boys) of 10–13 years of age (M=11.29, SD=0.68), who completed PTSS (CRIES) assessments at 3 (T1), 5 (T2), and 11 (T3) months after the war. Children reported their