Family-Focused Interventions for PTSD

Author(s):  
Stephen J. Cozza

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been shown to have a variety of negative health and mental health effects on those who are afflicted, as well as negative effects on relationships with intimate partners and close relatives. Families are likely to be impacted by the specific nature of the sustained trauma. For example, PTSD related to sexual trauma may be experienced solely by the victim, who is likely to be uniquely impacted by and “impactful” to intimate partners, close family, and friends in the victim’s life. In contrast, PTSD resulting from exposure to natural disasters or terrorism may affect numerous members of a family, particularly when multiple family members have been exposed to the same event or when homes, possessions, or neighborhoods have been broadly affected. Although specific circumstances may require tailored approaches to family intervention, different types of traumas also share commonalities related to their impact on interpersonal relationships, communication, and family functioning. Little is known about effective interventions for families affected by PTSD, regardless of circumstances.

Author(s):  
Stephen J. Cozza

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with negative health and mental health effects in those it afflicts but also has been shown to have negative effects on relationships with intimate partners and close relatives. Although different types of trauma require tailored approaches to family intervention, PTSD broadly affects interpersonal relationships, communication, and family functioning. Most of the existing literature has focused on military and veteran families affected by combat-related PTSD. This military perspective is used to structure this chapter and to highlight several areas important to an understanding of PTSD and its effect on families with children: framing PTSD from a family systems perspective and recognizing its impact on relationships and family functioning, reviewing child developmental considerations, describing unique challenges of childhood traumatic bereavement, and summarizing the developing literature examining family interventions for PTSD. Six strategies are highlighted that can mitigate risk in families affected by PTSD.


Author(s):  
Marilyn Watson

The origins of attachment theory and the work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth are described. Four types of child–parent attachment relationships—secure, insecure/anxious, insecure/ambivalent, and insecure/disorganized—are outlined along with the ways each type might manifest itself in the classroom. A longitudinal study, conducted by Alan Sroufe and his colleagues, of the development and effects on learning and interpersonal relationships of different child–parent attachment relationships is described. Teachers too have a history of attachment relationships that can affect how they relate to their students. The chapter describes adult attachment and how one’s attachment history might, positively or negatively, affect one’s ability to build positive, nurturing relationships with students. Specific examples of ways teachers can offset the negative effects of a student’s or their own history of insecure attachment are described.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjam Pot ◽  
Nathalie Kieusseyan ◽  
Barbara Prainsack

AbstractThe application of machine learning (ML) technologies in medicine generally but also in radiology more specifically is hoped to improve clinical processes and the provision of healthcare. A central motivation in this regard is to advance patient treatment by reducing human error and increasing the accuracy of prognosis, diagnosis and therapy decisions. There is, however, also increasing awareness about bias in ML technologies and its potentially harmful consequences. Biases refer to systematic distortions of datasets, algorithms, or human decision making. These systematic distortions are understood to have negative effects on the quality of an outcome in terms of accuracy, fairness, or transparency. But biases are not only a technical problem that requires a technical solution. Because they often also have a social dimension, the ‘distorted’ outcomes they yield often have implications for equity. This paper assesses different types of biases that can emerge within applications of ML in radiology, and discusses in what cases such biases are problematic. Drawing upon theories of equity in healthcare, we argue that while some biases are harmful and should be acted upon, others might be unproblematic and even desirable—exactly because they can contribute to overcome inequities.


Incarceration ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 263266632110217
Author(s):  
Laura McKendy ◽  
Rose Ricciardelli ◽  
Kate Konyk

Prisons and other correctional settings are spaces often marked by numerous sources of physical, psychological, and emotional insecurity. Researchers have consistently found correctional work to be associated with outcomes such as burnout, posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression. Drawing on open-ended survey questions with correctional workers (CWs) in the province of Ontario, we first identify salient themes in discussions of work stressors and potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs); these include situations involving harm to prisoners, harm to staff, and harms associated with occupational and organizational culture. Next, employing the concept of “habitus,” we consider the social-subjective effects of exposure to PPTEs as revealed in respondent accounts. Key aspects include a disposition of hypervigilance, desensitization, disillusionment, and distrust. We suggest that the CW habitus may, in some ways, serve to mitigate threats in the work environment, though may have negative effects on job performance and well-being, and come to shape social experiences in everyday life.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 2360-2367
Author(s):  
Krisztina Vajda ◽  
Klára Hernádi ◽  
Cosmin Coteţ ◽  
Gábor Kovács ◽  
Zsolt Pap

Titania and carbon materials are intensively studied in composite materials including photocatalytic applications. Both positive and negative effects were described in the literature, including charge separation, adsorption enhancement and short-circuiting of the photoelectrons as well. In the present study a more sparsely investigated properties of carbon materials will be highlighted, namely their role as crystallization promoters for titania, during hydrothermal synthesis of the composites. Therefore, carbon nanotubes, carbon coils, activated carbon, graphite and carbon aerogel was used to identify the importance of carbon during the time dependent crystallization of titanium dioxide. The crystal phase composition, morphology, optical properties and photocatalytic activity was followed, and it was found that the anatase and rutile crystallization depended on the used carbon material. The morphology of the particles varied from single anatase sheet-like crystals to hierarchical microball-like structures, while in some cases no specific morphology was observed. Furthermore, it was found that despite the low carbon content (2 wt.%) and microcrystalline structure of TiO2 the composites were proven to be efficient in the degradation of Rhodamine B under UV light irradiation.


Author(s):  
Enrique Fatas ◽  
Nathaly Jiménez ◽  
Lina Restrepo-Plaza ◽  
Gustavo Rincón

Violent conflict is a polyhedric phenomenon. Beyond the destruction of physical and human capital and the economic, political, and social costs war generates, there is an additional burden carried by victims: persistent changes in the way they make decisions. Exposure to violence generates changes in how individuals perceive other individuals from their group and other groups, how they discount the future, and how they assess and tolerate risk. The behavioral consequences of violence exposure can be documented using experiments in which participants make decisions in a controlled, incentive-compatible scenario. The external validity of experiments is reinforced when the studies are run in postconflict scenarios, for example, in Colombia, with real victims of conflict. The experimental tasks, therefore, may map risk attitudes among victims and nonvictims of the conflict who share a common background, and distinguish between different types of exposure (direct versus indirect) and different sources of violence (conflict-related versus criminal violence). The experimental evidence collected in Colombia is consistent with a long-lasting and substantial effect of conflict exposure on risk attitudes. Victims are more likely to take risks and less likely to make safe choices than nonvictims, controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and attitudinal factors. The effect is significant only when the source of violence is conflict (exerted by guerrilla or paramilitary militias) and when violence is experienced directly by individuals. Indirect conflict exposure (suffered by close relatives) and criminal violence leave no significant mark on participants’ risk attitudes in the study.


Epigenomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Line Hjort ◽  
Feride Rushiti ◽  
Shr-Jie Wang ◽  
Peter Fransquet ◽  
Sebahate P Krasniqi ◽  
...  

Aim: To investigate the association between maternal post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during pregnancy and offspring DNA methylation and cortisol levels. Materials & methods: Blood genome-wide DNA methylation and cortisol was measured in the youngest child of 117 women who experienced sexual violence/torture during the Kosovo war. Results: Seventy-two percent of women had PTSD symptoms during pregnancy. Their children had higher cortisol levels and differential methylation at candidate genes ( NR3C1, HTR3A and BNDF) . No methylation differences reached epigenome-wide corrected significance levels. Conclusion: Identifying the biological processes whereby the negative effects of trauma are passed across generations and defining groups at high risk is a key step to breaking the intergenerational transmission of the effects of mental disorders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuriy Danyk

The article is based on the concept of forming various stress-related disorders in crisis situations. It is proved that destructive informational effects in modern conditions are an integral part in the formation of crisis situation syndromes and posttraumatic stress disorder. In the course of research, the possibility of using the system of biological markers for timely detection and effective treatment of stress-associated and informational disorders was established (before other clinical symptoms or their reaching diagnostic threshold). It also allows timely assessment of the subjective adaptation threshold of people at risk, to identify and reduce the negative effects of stress-related disorders. The use of the biomarkers was also researched for the diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, prevention of stress-related disorders among participants of crisis situations.


Curationis ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
T.M. Mothiba ◽  
R.N. Malema

Alcohol abuse is a problem in South Africa and it has negative effects on the wellbeing of individuals, families, friends, work associates and neighbours. Alcohol produces both psychological and physical dependence. Gillies (1999:112) indicated that alcoholism usually interferes with the ability to socialize, work and may lead to much other destructive behaviour. It was further stated that people who are addicted to alcohol often have a low self-esteem, immaturity, are easily frustrated, and have difficulty in solving personal problems. This study investigated the perceptions of community members towards youth abusing alcohol and identified, among others, anti-social behaviour, poor interpersonal relationships, family disorganization, poor integration with family members and physical damage as the major concerns. An attempt was also made to develop strategies that can be used to overcome the problems of alcohol abuse by youth. Design and Method: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was followed in this study for the participants to describe their perceptions regarding the phenomenon in question (Brink, 2006:113). Data were collected through individual unstructured interviews in one village of the Capricorn District of the Limpopo Province. The researchers employed the principles of Guba and Lincoln (1993) cited in De Vos (1998:331) relating to trustworthiness and adhered to the ethical standards as set by the Democratic Nurses Association of South Africa (DENOSA, 1998:2.3.2).Findings: Five themes and seven categories emerged from the data analysis, using Tech’s open coding approach (1990), as outlined in De Vos (1998:343), namely, antisocial behaviour, poor interpersonal behaviour, physical damage, poor progress in life processes and effects of alcohol on the body. To address the problem of alcohol abuse by youth in one village (the study area) of the Capricorn District in the Limpopo Province and other villages the study recommends that educational and recreational facilities and the formation of youth structures should be established.


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