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Cognitive Orientation Is Predictive of Posttraumatic Growth After Secondary Exposure to Trauma

Shiri, S., Wexler, I. D., Kreitler, S. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:10:35 PST

The purpose of the study was to explore the motivational basis for posttraumatic growth following secondary trauma among rescuers, nurses, and rehabilitation teams. The authors chose the framework of the cognitive orientation theory, which defines motivation as a function of beliefs of four types (about goals, norms, oneself, and reality) relevant to themes identified with posttraumatic growth. Regression analyses showed that the majority of variables associated with posttraumatic growth were predicted by the scores of the four belief types and thematic factors. These findings support the validity of cognitive orientation theory for assessing motivation for growth following secondary exposure to trauma.

Inadequate Preabortion Counseling and Decision Conflict as Predictors of Subsequent Relationship Difficulties and Psychological Stress in Men and Women

Coyle, C. T., Coleman, P. K., Rue, V. M. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:10:36 PST

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between perceptions of preabortion counseling adequacy and partner congruence in abortion decisions and two sets of outcome variables involving relationship problems and individual psychological stress. Data were collected through online surveys from 374 women who had a prior abortion and 198 men whose partners had experienced elective abortion. For women, perceptions of preabortion counseling inadequacy predicted relationship problems, symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal, and meeting full diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with controls for demographic and personal/situational variables used. For men, perceptions of inadequate counseling predicted relationship problems and symptoms of intrusion and avoidance with the same controls used. Incongruence in the decision to abort predicted intrusion and meeting diagnostic criteria for PTSD among women with controls used, whereas for men, decision incongruence predicted intrusion, hyperarousal, meeting diagnostic criteria for PTSD, and relationship problems. Findings suggest that both perceptions of inadequate preabortion counseling and incongruence in the abortion decision with one’s partner are related to adverse personal and interpersonal outcomes.

Longitudinal Changes in Posttraumatic Stress in Relation to Political Violence (Bloody Sunday)

McGuigan, K., Shevlin, M. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:10:36 PST

The aim of this study was to assess the levels of psychological distress experienced among the families of those killed and those wounded on Bloody Sunday. A longitudinal design was used. A measure of psychological distress was administered to four groups of participants at four times over a period of approximately 41/2 years. The Impact of Events Scale–Revised (IES-R) was administered to 69 participants who comprised four groups; those wounded during Bloody Sunday, the immediate family of victims, second-generation family members of victims, and a comparison group. Significant between-group and withingroup main effects were found using a mixed analysis of variance. This indicated that there were significant differences in IES-R scores across the four groups and that the scores decreased across time. The group by time interaction was statistically significant, which indicated that the changes in IES-R scores across time differed across groups. The results attest to the persistent and far-reaching effects of traumatic events on individuals, with psychological distress still being reported more than 30 years after the event.

Visual Stimuli for Traumatic Memories: An Academic and Personal Memoir

Green Fryd, V. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:10:35 PST

In this article, the author takes the subject-position as a survivor of father–daughter incest whose memories of her dissociated childhood traumatic experiences were triggered by viewing specific installations in the At Home: A Kentucky Project With Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman (2001-2002). The author shows how art functions as a ritualized site for witnessing trauma that can assist in individual recovery. She incorporated variety of trauma theories based on her scholarly understanding as well as personal experience of having experienced posttraumatic stress disorder. This study demonstrates that a viewer not only brings his or her own experiences and preknowledge to a work of art, thereby constructing its meaning, but that the work of art can act as a cue for the return of traumatic remembrance, becoming an agent on the viewer’s emotional and personal journey.

The Treatment of Combat Trauma in Veterans Using EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques): A Pilot Protocol

Church, D. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:10:35 PST

With a large number of U.S. military service personnel coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid psychological conditions, a need exists to find protocols and treatments that are effective in brief treatment time frames. In this study, a sample of 11 veterans and family members were assessed for PTSD and other conditions. Evaluations were made using the SA-45 (Symptom Assessment 45) and the PCL-M (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist–Military) using a time-series, within-subjects, repeated measures design. A baseline measurement was obtained 30 days prior to treatment and immediately before treatment. Participants were then treated with a brief and novel exposure therapy, EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), for 5 days. Statistically significant improvements in the SA-45 and PCL-M scores were found at posttest. These gains were maintained at both the 30- and 90-day follow-ups on the general symptom index, positive symptom total, and the anxiety, somatization, phobic anxiety, and interpersonal sensitivity subscales of the SA-45, and on PTSD. The remaining SA-45 scales improved posttest but were not consistently maintained at the 30- and 90-day follow-ups. One-year follow-up data were obtained for 7 of the participants and the same improvements were observed. In summary, after EFT treatment, the group no longer scored positive for PTSD, the severity and breadth of their psychological distress decreased significantly, and most of their gains held over time. This suggests that EFT can be an effective postdeployment intervention.

Trauma, Feminism, and Addiction: Cultural and Clinical Lessons From Susan Gordon Lydon's Take the Long Way Home: Memoirs of a Survivor

Muzak, J. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:10:34 PST

This article explores second-wave feminist Susan Gordon Lydon’s 1993 memoir, Take the Long Way Home: Memoirs of a Survivor as a historical document whose resonances remain relevant for people working in the multidisciplinary field of trauma studies. Lydon’s memoir illustrates what are arguably the most significant legacies of second-wave feminism’s consciousness-raising and its propagation of the notion that the personal is political: the feminist reconceptualization of trauma to include women’s everyday experiences of interpersonal violence and the emergence of survivor discourse. The article demonstrates that Lydon’s conceptualization of her addiction as a response to trauma reflects three key feminist contributions to trauma theory: the expansion of the conventional concept of trauma to include women’s everyday and ongoing experiences; out of this expansion, the development of the concept of "insidious trauma";and the depathologization of adaptive, "normal responses" to trauma.

Psychological Responses and Coping Strategies After an Urban Bridge Collapse

Spence, P. R., Nelson, L. D., Lachlan, K. A. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:10:34 PST

Breakdowns in infrastructure can cause both physical and psychological harm. Examining the coping strategies of individuals and the subsequent results of those strategies can aid recovery workers and inform emergency practitioners on how to prepare to meet the needs of the general population in such an event. Following the 2007 I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a self-report questionnaire was used to address the emotional state and coping behaviors of local residents. Consistent with prior work indicating that individuals respond to crisis-related stress with information seeking and other behaviors, the present study found that emotional distress in the period immediately following the collapse was related to the endorsement of a number of coping strategies. Furthermore, women reported experiencing higher levels of psychological distress than men and endorsed thinking and seeking information about the event more than men. Regardless of gender, thinking about the crisis was associated with a decrease in feelings of fright between the initial period after the crisis and several days after the event.

Internet-Based Expressive Writing for Kidney Transplant Recipients: Effects on Posttraumatic Stress and Quality of Life

Possemato, K., Ouimette, P., Geller, P. A. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:10:33 PST

Transplantation can be conceptualized as a traumatic stressor that may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and poorer quality of life (QOL). This pilot study examined an Internet-based expressive writing (EW) intervention adapted for kidney transplant recipients with the goal of improving transplant-related PTSD and QOL and general health-related QOL. Forty-eight participants were randomly assigned to EW or medical fact writing conditions. Internet-based EW was found to be feasible, to be safe, and to lead to significantly better transplant-related QOL. Both writing groups showed a decrease in PTSD severity, with the expressive writers demonstrating a trend toward significantly less PTSD arousal symptoms. This pilot study provides initial support for the use of Internet-based EW with medical patients.

Trauma and Holocaust Video Testimony: The Intersection of History, Memory, and Judgment in the Interview Process

Brown, A. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:50:59 PDT

This article analyzes video testimonies recorded at the Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia, which address the highly complex and sensitive issue of "privileged" Jews. The so-called privileged Jews include prisoners in the Nazi-operated camps and ghettos who held positions that gave them access to material and other benefits, while compelling them to act in ways that have been judged detrimental to fellow inmates. Although the issue of "privileged" Jews has been largely neglected, it relates to a crucial facet of the Holocaust and has vast implications for its aftermath. The ethical dilemmas facing these victims may be closely linked to what Lawrence Langer has termed choiceless choices, which challenge conventional notions of "judgment" and "responsibility." This problem is also the primary subject of Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi‘s essay titled "The Grey Zone," which is arguably the most influential essay ever written on the Holocaust. Levi argues that one should abstain from judging individuals who confronted such extreme circumstances, positioning prisoners with "privileged" positions at the threshold of representation and understanding. However, moral evaluations of "privileged" Jews have a strong impact on Holocaust testimonies, whether these were constructed during the war or recorded long after the survivors‘ experiences. The examples of video testimonies explored in this article reveal that this is particularly the case when interviewees are former "privileged" Jews and interviewers are themselves Holocaust survivors. The article argues that when confronted with such an emotionally and morally fraught issue, judgment may itself be seen as a "limit of representation."