Psychological Functioning of Adolescents from Violent Families

Objective. The aim of the study was to determine the association of family violence with the functioning of the family system, psychological functioning and development of specific characteristics of the adolescents who grew up in a violent families. Methods. The study was carried out on a sample of 308 adolescents, aged 15–18, divided in a FV group of adolescents coming from dysfunctional families (n = 68) adolescents who grew up in-violent families and were exposed to family violence, which was reported and processed, and a control group (n = 240) adolescents from families in which according to the CPRS-R Questionnaire there was not found any form of violence, alcoholism or any other psychosocial pathology. FACES III Scale and Questionnaire for the examination of psychosocial characteristics of the adolescents and family (Revised CPRS-R) were used for measuring dimensions of family functioning, Cybernetic model of personality dimensions (CON-6) for conative functioning of the adolescents, Теst for reasoning images (TRI) for measuring intellectual development and the Scale of Latent Maturity (SLM) for determining the level of psychological maturity. The data were processed by using linear regression analysis. Results. Family functioning disorders caused by family violence were significantly and highly associated with psychological functioning of the adolescents: concern about family relationships (β =-.968), need for professional help (β =-.873), cooperation with people (β =.523), orientation towards the future (β =.669), latent maturity (β =.618), psychosomatic reactions (β =-.509), dissociative reactions (β =-.591), excused absence from school (β =.618), unexcused absence from school (β =-.824), memory disorders (β =-.541), night fears (β =- 722), running away from home (β =-.569), breaking rules and getting punished at school (β =-.569), conflicts with peers (β =-.460). Conative functioning of the adolescents exposed to a violent family environment showed a pathological form of functioning in dissociative, anxiety reactions and social adaptability. Conclusion. Exposure of adolescents to a violent family environment was associated with changes in psychological functioning, development of specific personality characteristics and risk of developing internalized and externalized symptoms when it came to social-adaptation, anxiety and dissociative reactions. The mediators between family violence and psychological functioning and development of the adolescents was family cohesion and disorders within the marital dyad.

The association between conative functioning of adolescents exposed to intimate partner violence and family dimensions of cohesion and adaptibility

B?ckground/Aim. Childhood exposure to various types of emotional, physical and sexual abuse in intimate partner violence (IPV) families is associated with difficulties in emotional and social adjustment, including conduct problems, internalized and externalized symptoms. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between intimate partner violence and: family system functioning (cohesion and adaptability), conative functioning of adolescents and risk of psychopathological symptomatology development. The specific aim of this study was to establish the mental hygiene and preventive measures in order to reduce the negative consequences of growing up in the IPV families. Methods. The study was done on a sample of 308 adolescents, aged 15?18 years, divided into the IPV group (n = 68 adolescents growing up in families with the IPV and exposed to IPV in which the violence was reported and processed), and the control group (n = 240 adolescents coming from families in which there was not found any type of violence or psychosocial pathology on the basis of the results obtained on the Conners' Parent Rating Scale?Revised (CPRS-R) Questionnaire. The Faces III scale of measurement was used for measuring the dimensions of family functioning, and Cybernetic model of conative dimensions of personality (CON-6) for conative functioning of adolescents. The data was processed by using the discriminate and linear regressive analysis. Results. The adolescents growing up in the families with the IPV and exposed to IPV showed the statistically significant differences (p < 0.01) in conative functioning: psychosomatic ? = -.509, anxiety ? = -.393, aggressive ? = -.398, dissociative ? = -.509 and adaptive personality reactions ? = -.455, as compared to the control group. There was 32.35% of adolescents exposed to IPV who showed the pronounced pathological values regarding social-adaption reaction, 23.53% regarding pathological anxiety and 23.53% dissociative reactions. The greatest negative relationship was found between intimate partner violence and family dimension of cohesion (? = -0.605, p < 0.01). Conclusion. Adolescents growing up and being exposed to the intimate partner violence were significantly associated with changes in the conative functioning and risk of externalized and internalized symptoms development in socially-adaptive, anxiety and dissociative reactions and the need to introduce the preventive mental-hygienic measures. The mediator between IPV and conative functioning of adolescents was family cohesion.

Overall reaction mechanism for a full atomic layer deposition cycle of W films on TiN surfaces: first-principles study

We investigated the overall ALD reaction mechanism for W deposition on TiN surfaces based on DFT calculation as well as the detailed dissociative reactions of WF6.

Pieces of Me: A Story of Trauma and Dissociation

IntroductionTraumatic event related disorders (ASD, PTSD and dissociative disorders) could share a common dissociative psychobiological origin. Patients diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder present a high sexual abuse rate (85–90%), way above the rest of the traumatic spectrum disorders.ObjectivesThe goal of this study is to analyse the existing relation between different types of trauma, especially sexual abuse, and the onset and continuity of dissociative disorders.Materials and methodsWe report the case of a 37 years old woman with a long sexual abuse history. The symptoms appear by age 30, in the form of flashbacks, ushering a persistent identity fragmentation in individual differentiated opposed components, shaping a dissociative personality disorder, which was present for years taking a fluctuating and invalidating nature.DiscussionWhen a traumatic event occurs, acute dissociative reactions frequently appear, usually briefly, disappearing spontaneously afterwards. In this case, we can discern the persistence of the dissociative symptoms and the repercussion they had in the patient's functionality.ConclusionThe existence of a correlation between the duration of a chronic traumatic event and the persistence of dissociative symptoms in the evolution of a dissociative personality disorder is possible.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Dissociative reactions of benzonorbornadienes with tetrazines: scope of leaving groups and mechanistic insights

Hetero-substituted benzonorbornadiene derivatives react rapidly with tetrazines to release diverse leaving groups in high yields.

The Development of Novel Interoceptive Exposure Methods for Inducing Derealization and Depersonalization Symptoms

Derealization and depersonalization and are commonly experienced by individuals with panic disorder. Although interoceptive exposure (IE) is a key therapeutic component in the treatment of panic disorder, there currently are few recognized ways to elicit reactions that successfully mimic dissociative symptoms commonly experienced during panic. We examined the ability of several novel methods that elicit anomalous and confusing perceptual experiences to induce at least moderately intense dissociative reactions in a college student sample (N = 34). Two of the novel procedures (i.e., stripes and hand) and a task previously identified as effectively eliciting dissociative symptoms, strobe light plus three-dimensional (3D) glasses reliably induced derealization/depersonalization reactions. The implications of these findings for further research and the clinical practice of IE in treatment of panic attacks are discussed.

Trauma- and stressor-related disorders

Trauma- and stressor-related disorders occur following exposure to a traumatic or other stressful event. They differ according to the timing of exposure and age at manifestation. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops following exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual assault. Intrusions, distressing dreams, dissociative reactions (flashbacks), intense psychological distress, and physiological stress responses at exposure to internal of external cues that symbolize aspects of the traumatic event are typical for PTSD. Behaviourally, PTSD reflects a strategy of defence involving avoidance, attentive immobility, withdrawal, aggressive defence, appeasement, and tonic immobility, some of which are ancient vertebrate heritage. These defence mechanisms are preceded by heightened vigilance and risk assessment. Persistent stress responses often occur when important biosocial goals had been thwarted by the traumatic event. Species with long life-history patterns may be more vulnerable to developing PTSD than species with short life cycles.