scholarly journals Strokes of Strength: An Expressive Arts-based Intervention with Adolescents

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khwaish Sharma ◽  
Priti Dhawan

In order to explore how adolescents who have been affected by traumaticexperiences would respond to an expressive arts-based intervention, amodule was designed, implemented and its effect on certain behavioraland emotional constructs was evaluated. The sample included 10 femaleadolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 who underwent a 2-month longgroup expressive arts therapy in their institutional home, namely, PrayasJuveline Aid Centre, New Delhi, India. The tools which were used toassess the changes in the pre – post intervention scores in self – reportedbehavioral and emotional difficulties were: The Youth Self Report Form(YSR Form 11-18, CBCL; ASEBA, 2001) and the ‘Severity of Post –Traumatic Stress Scale’ (NSESSS; APA, 2013). The tools used to assessthe changes in the pre – post intervention ratings of the caregiver were,the ‘DSM – 5 Parent / Guardian Rated Level 1 Cross Cutting SymptomMeasure’ (APA, 2013) and the ‘Caregiver’s Observation Checklist:Children at – risk’ (WCCL, 2013). The results revealed that 4-weekexpressive arts -based intervention elicited a statistically significantdifference in the self – reported behavioural and emotional difficultiesby the participants. The verbatim reports, diary excerpts and paintings ofthe participants were qualitatively analysed. In future, there is room toinvestigate how an intervention with a longer duration and a representativesample would explain the effectiveness of expressive – arts-based therapywith such populations.

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S722-S722
Author(s):  
C. Carmassi ◽  
P. Isabella ◽  
C.A. Bertelloni ◽  
M. Corsi ◽  
G. Massimetti ◽  
...  

IntroductionRescue emergency personnel is at high risk to develop PTSD due to possible extreme and repetitive exposition to “cruel details of traumatic events”.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore posttraumatic stress and subthreshold autism symptomatology and their impact on social and working functioning level among sub mariner of Italian Navy, who were employed in the Costa Concordia and Genova tower rescue operation.MethodsEighty-five subjects were enrolled and investigated by the following instruments: Trauma and Loss Spectrum Self-Report (TALS-SR), Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS Spectrum) and Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS).ResultsThe response rate was about 50%. Ninety-five percent of the subjects were employed in recovering corpses and 80% reported at least one rescue operation in the last three years. Full and partial DSM-5 PTSD rates were 8% and 27.5%, respectively. A strong correlation emerged between several TALS-SR and ADAS domain. Furthermore, TALS-SR domain scores were related to WSAS domain.ConclusionThis data showed rescue personnel to be at risk for post-traumatic stress spectrum and related work and social impairment. Further studies are needed to better investigate possible risk and resilience factors associated to PTSD.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 142-142
Author(s):  
C. Carmassi ◽  
C. Socci ◽  
M. Corsi ◽  
I. Pergentini ◽  
E. Massimetti ◽  
...  

IntroductionAround 9–20% of bereaved individuals experience symptoms of complicated grief (CG) associated with significant distress and impairment. Increasing research has been focused on identifying the distinctive set of psychiatric symptoms that characterize this condition with respect to major depression, corroborating the need to include this syndrome in the forthcoming DSM-V as a distinctive diagnosis. Vulnerability to CG has been rooted in attachment disturbances and authors reported that symptoms of separation anxiety in childhood should be considered as predictors of CG onset in adulthood.ObjectivesTo date no study explored symptoms of adult separation anxiety among patients with CG with respect to healthy control subjects (HC).AimsTo explore adult separation anxiety and mood spectrum symptoms in patients with CG with respect to HC.Methods53 patients with CG and 50 control subjects were recruited, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pisa. Assessments: SCID-I/P, the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG), the Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire (ASA-27), the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS), the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the Mood Spectrum-Self Report (MOODS-SR) lifetime version.ResultsPatients with CG reported significantly higher scores on the MOODS-SR, ASA_27, IES and WSAS with respect to controls. The scores on the ASA_27 were more strongly associated with IES scores with respect to other scales.ConclusionsOur results suggest a correlation between adult separation anxiety and CG onset after the loss of a loved one in adulthood, with a possible correlation to a post-traumatic stress symptomatology. Further studies are needed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damion J. Grasso ◽  
Christine Doyle ◽  
Ron Koon

The Trauma-Related Symptoms and Impairment Rapid Screen (TSIRS) and the Dimensions of Violence Exposure Rapid Screen (DVERS) are two new tools designed to detect traumatic stress symptoms and high-risk characteristics of trauma exposure. Each screen contains 10 yes-or-no questions and is estimated to take approximately 2 min to complete. The rapid screens were developed to address the demand for efficient, effective, and user-friendly tools for use in settings where universal screening of trauma and related symptoms is recommended, but training and expertise in clinical assessment are generally lacking or absent. The purpose of the current study was to examine the predictive utility of the TSIRS and DVERS in detecting probable post-traumatic stress disorder and poly-victimization assessed via a validated self-report instrument. Data were collected on a sample of 218 detained adolescents. Results provide initial support for the predictive utility of the TSIRS and DVERS in a justice-involved sample.


2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damon Lab ◽  
Ines Santos ◽  
Felicity de Zulueta

Aims and MethodTo evaluate the effectiveness of treatment at the Traumatic Stress Service (TSS) by comparing pre- and post-treatment scores on patient self-report measures. Through a questionnaire survey, to explore therapists' views of problems presenting in addition to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and how, as a result, they adapted their approach to trauma work.ResultsTherapists reported that their patients present with a range of complex problems, and self-report measures show that patients suffer particularly high levels of psychopathology. Therapists identified a number of adaptations to trauma-focused work to deal with these additional problems. Of the 112 patients who completed therapy, 43% filled in pre- and post-treatment questionnaire measures. Analysis showed clinically and statistically significant improvements in levels of PTSD, depression and social functioning.Clinical ImplicationsThe typical presentation of trauma survivors is often not ‘simple’ PTSD, but PTSD resulting from chronic and multiple traumas and complicated by additional psychological and social difficulties. Adaptations to trauma-focused work can successfully treat such ‘complex’ PTSD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Hyun Lee ◽  
Dayoung Lee ◽  
Soyoen Hyun ◽  
Ji Sun Hong ◽  
Chang-Hoon Kim ◽  
...  

Experiences of infectious diseases cause stressful and traumatic life events, hence, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients could suffer from various mental health problems requiring psychological support services. This study investigates the severity of mental health problems among confirmed COVID-19 patients. From March to November 2020, we collected the data from 118 COVID-19 patients who voluntarily participated in the National Center for Disaster Trauma's online mental health assessment consisting of self-report scales like Primary Care of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder screen (PC-PTSD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15), and P4 Suicidality Screener. For control, 116 other disaster-experienced and 386 non-COVID-19-experienced participants were recruited. The COVID-19 patients showed more severe symptoms including post-traumatic symptoms, depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms than control groups across all four screening scales (p < 0.001). Regarding high-risk, COVID-19 patients had an increased association with high-risk compared to the comparison groups (PC-PTSD: OR = 24.16, 95% CI = 13.52–43.16 p < 0.001; PHQ-9: OR = 14.45, 95% CI = 8.29–25.19, p < 0.001; GAD-7: OR=20.71, 95% CI = 10.74–39.96, p < 0.001; PHQ-15: OR = 5.65, 95% CI = 3.44–9.25, p < 0.001; P4: OR = 14.67, 95% CI = 8.95–25.07, p < 0.001). This study's results imply that there is a high-risk of overall mental health problems, especially stronger associations of post-traumatic stress symptoms, in COVID-19 patients. These findings help inform practitioners about the psychological responses to COVID-19 experiences and to prepare appropriate interventions and services for the incremental number of confirmed cases.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Hammond ◽  
Richard Meiser-Stedman ◽  
Anna McKinnon ◽  
Tim Dalgleish ◽  
Patrick Smith ◽  
...  

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced by children can have a large impact on the wider family. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, 2018) recommend that parents are involved in their child’s PTSD treatment. Studies have found that parents themselves also report high levels of PTSD and other mental health symptoms but few have explored whether these symptoms reduce following their child receiving trauma-focused CBT. In this study, parents (N=29) whose children (ages 8-17 years) were randomly assigned to either 10 sessions of Cognitive Therapy for PTSD (CT-PTSD) or a wait-list control condition (WL) completed the Post Traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9; to measure depression), the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28; to measure general mental health) for pre-post comparison. Parents whose children were allocated to CT-PTSD reported greater improvements on self-report PTSD, depression, anxiety and general mental health, relative to the WL condition. This trial provides preliminary support for the efficacy of CT-PTSD delivered to children for reducing parent PTSD, depression, anxiety and general mental health symptoms. Replication is needed as well as further exploration of parent factors and frequency of parental involvement required to predict improvements.


Author(s):  
M Sadeghi khorashad ◽  
E Rezaieyan ◽  
A Abdolahnezhad

Introduction: Firefighters are at high risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and that Quality of Life (QoL) is seriously compromised in individuals who have PTSD. This study was designed to assess the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorders and quality of life among firefighters. Materials and Methods: In this analytical and cross-sectional study, all firefighters in Birjand city were selected by census method (N = 96) in 2018. PTSD and QoL status was assessed by the Persian version of the Mississippi (Eshel) and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires, respectively. Using Cronbach's α, the Iranian version of these two scales' internal reliability has been reported to be 0.92 and more than 0.7, respectively. Data analysis using SPSS software version 21 and independent T-test, ANOVA, Tukey's test, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis. Results: The results showed that most firefighters (70.5%) were suffered from moderate PTSD symptoms (79.2± 11.7). Based on the self-report scale, 53.7% of the firefighters rated their quality of life as Good, and 43.2% of the firefighters were satisfied with their health. Statistical analysis showed that there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between PTSD score and areas of mental health (P = 0.03), social relations (P = 0.002), and environmental health (P = 0.004). Between PTSD score and physical health, no statistically significant relationship was found (P = 0.08). Conclusion: This study has proven a high rate of PTSD among firefighters and its negative correlation with the quality of their life. However, most firefighters rated their health and quality of life as good. Implementing strategies to combat mental disorders among firefighters improves the quality of their life and increases their job productivity.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1087-1087
Author(s):  
M. Tadevosyan ◽  
A. Babakhanya-Gambaryan

IntroductionGrowing stress and extreme situations create serious psychological problems, for solving which a person must get adopted to new situations different from stress- formed conditions, “suppressing” herewith spontaneous aggression and anxiety that quite often leads to both forming anti- and asocial behavior and the development of somatoform disorders.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to examine the development of several PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) symptoms actual in PTSD dynamics.AimTo determine how growing of actual parameters impacts on development of PTSD.MethodsIn this study material of observation, testing and diagnoses of 30 male Karabagh war volunteers at the age of 35–61 (48 ± 8) were used. The psychiatric disorders (among the examined patients) corresponded to ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The observation period included 15–18 years. The clinical self- report scale SCL-90-R was used to assess several psychological features.ResultsAll the actual SCL-90 properties exceed the pathological level (≥2). In particular, somatisation level was 2, 2 ± 0, 5 in 2009 vs. 1, 97 ± 0,10 in 1996. It is caused, on the one hand, by the presence of unconscious suppressed anxiety, on the other hand, by the evident deterioration of the patients’ somatoneurological status. Besides, growing aggression is revealed (SCL- hostility) (2,4 ± 0,8 in 2009 vs. 2, 24 ± 0,16 in 1996), that indicates gradual forming of organic cerebral changes.ConclusionThe comparison of 1996–2009 features enables to hypothesize, that development of actual parameters is essential in PTSD dynamics at the stage of distant results.


2003 ◽  
Vol 183 (4) ◽  
pp. 314-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Wessely ◽  
C. Unwin ◽  
M. Hotopf ◽  
L. Hull ◽  
K. Ismail ◽  
...  

BackgroundWartime traumatic events are related to subsequent psychological and physical health, but quantifying the association is problematic. Memory changes over time and is influenced by psychological status.AimsTo use a large, two-stage cohort study of members of the UK armed forces to study changes in recall of both traumatic and ‘toxic’ hazards.MethodA questionnaire-based follow-up study assessed 2370 UK military personnel, repeating earlier questions about exposure to military hazards.ResultsThe κ statistics for reporting of hazards were good for some exposures, but very low for others. Gulf veterans reported more exposures over time (no significant rise in the Bosnia cohort). In the Gulf cohort only, reporting new exposures was associated with worsening health perception, and forgetting previously reported exposures with improved perception. We found no association between physical health, psychological morbidity or post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and endorsement or non-endorsement of exposures.ConclusionsReporting of military hazards after a conflict is not static, and is associated with current self-rated perception of health. Self-report of exposures associated with media publicity needs to be treated with caution.


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