bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Psychological well‐being among Holocaust survivors and immigrants in Israel
Authors: Harel Zev , Kahana Boaz , Kahana Eva 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis research assessed predictors of psychological well‐being among 180 survivors of the Holocaust and among a comparison group of 160 immigrants of similar sociocultural background living in Israel. Four variables: better health, higher instrumental coping, lower emotional coping, and lesser social concern, were found to be significant predictors of psychological well‐being in both groups. Among survivors, these four variables, as well as being married, fewer life crises, communication with co‐workers, and not being resigned to fate, accounted for 52% of explained variance in psychological well‐being. Among immigrants who served as a comparison group, these four variables, along with a relaxed personality style and good communication with one's spouse, accounted for 36% or explained variance in psychological well‐being. Theses factors underscore the importance of current social and psychological adaptation for psychological well‐being among survivors and among older persons of similar backgrounds who did not endure the extreme trauma of the Holocaust.
Psychological first aid and treatment approach to children exposed to community violence: Research implications
Authors: Pynoos Robert S. , Nader Kathi 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper discusses research findings and their implications regarding children's responses to community violence. It outlines (1) theory and findings, (2) early intervention and psychological first aid, and (3) treatment approaches following a violent event. In each section we discuss post‐traumatic stress, grief, worry about a significant other, and experience with previous trauma. Detailed steps for psychological first aid are outlined according to age and grade level. Intervention strategies are proposed for each category of response with designed interventions for the classroom, the family, the individual, and the group.
Treating psychic trauma in children: A preliminary discussion
Authors: Terr Lenore C. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractTreatment techniques for psychic trauma in children are as yet at a very preliminary stage. No generally accepted research study has established one certain technique as standard. Possibilities for treatment of childhood post‐traumatic stress disorders cluster into family, group, and individual treatments. Among the individual treatment modalities available, play therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive and behavioral therapies, and medication hold the most promise. A combination of several of these treatments would, in most cases, be the best program available today.
Family survivors of homicide victims: Theoretical perspectives and an exploratory study
Authors: Amick‐McMullan Angelynne , Kilpatrick Dean G. , Veronen Lois J. , Smith Susan 
Published: June 2007

AbstractLittle empirical information is available on the impact of homicide on surviving family members. Existing descriptions fall into a dichotomy of grief theory and those reporting symptoms of Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder. This pilot study offers a multidimensional formulation which combines symptoms reported across previous studies. Participants were 19 survivors recruited through a victim witness program and a victim rights organization. A learning model, Mowrer's Two Factor Theory, was applied to explain the acquisition and maintenance of post‐traumatic symptoms. Consistent with this model, survivors reported recurrent homicide‐related intrusions and avoidance behaviors on the Horowitz Impact of Event Scale (IES). Comparison of survivors' IES scores with those of victims of rape, loss of a family member, and other trauma revealed a high frequency of symptoms. Mean length of time since homicide was 2.5 years. The Derogatis Symptom Check List 90‐Revised (SCL9O‐R) revealed a high level of general psychiatric distress, with 66% of survivors meeting “caseness” criteria, indicating a need for treatment intervention. A 7‐point Likert scale measure of satisfaction with the criminal justice system was highly correlated with SCL9O‐R subscales of depression (r = − 0.82) and anxiety (r = − 0.82). This link between distress and perceptions of the justice system provided preliminary support for an equity theory perspective on survivor attributions. Conceptual, research, and clinical implications were discussed.
Psychosocial impact of disasters: Victims of the Baldwin Hills fire
Authors: Maida Carl A. , Gordon Norma S. , Steinberg Alan , Gordon Gail 
Published: June 2007

AbstractA major fire occurred in the Baldwin Hills community of Los Angeles that resulted in the destruction of 50 homes. The life of this Black middle class community was seriously disrupted by this fire. Twenty‐five victims of the fire were interviewed using a modified version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule/Disaster Supplement and the Impact of Event Scale. Subjects reported on their emotional, psychosomatic, and physical health problems resulting from the fire. Additional information obtained by the interviewers included victims' opinions of media coverage of the event, attribution of blame for its occurrence and perception of community disruption. This study supports previous findings that exposure to the event is significantly related to the number of post‐traumatic stress symptoms as reported on the DIS/DS, and that depression symptoms, which were widespread, were correlated with the extent of loss.
A terrorist hijacking: Victims' experiences initially and 9 years later
Authors: Kleinman Stuart B. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThree victims of a terrorist attack were interviewed in order to determine the coping mechanisms they utilized during the attack, the psychopathology present after the attack and the ways they dealt with their psychopathology. Fantasy, the belief in one's ability to positively influence his environment, altruistic actions, and dissociation reportedly helped those interviewed to cope during the incident. Depressive and post‐traumatic stress phenomena comprised the major psychopathology present in those interviewed. Altruistic actions, symbolic repetition and mastery of the traumatic situation, self‐esteem enhancing activities, avoidance of reminders of the incident and involvement in certain types of relationships reportedly helped these victims to deal with the sequelae of the attack.
Implosive therapy for the treatment of combat‐related PTSD
Authors: Lyons Judith A. , Keane Terence M. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractImplosive therapy for the treatment of post‐traumatic stress disorder is based on the principle of exposing the patient to trauma‐related cues until there is a reduction in the anxiety associated with the cues. It is a relatively specialized procedure regarding which few clinicians receive extensive supervised training, despite the numerous case studies that demonstrate its effectiveness. The present paper addresses a number of procedural issues and offers guidelines for conducting implosive therapy with traumatized combat veterans. Elements of controversy regarding the application of implosive therapy are discussed.
Being held hostage in the Netherlands: A study of long‐term aftereffects
Authors: van der Ploeg Henk M. , Chr. Kleijn Wim 
Published: June 2007

AbstractIn the 1970s, The Netherlands were confronted with eight large‐scale hijackings, in which a total of nearly 500 persons were held hostage. In 1985, the long‐term aftereffects (up to 9 years) of these hostage takings were studied. Approximately one‐third of the ex‐hostages studied were found to suffer from negative effects resulting from the hostage‐taking and mentioned symptoms related to DSM‐III categories “post‐traumatic stress disorder” and “generalized anxiety disorder,” and a variety of medical symptoms. Twelve percent of the ex‐hostages were found to be still in need of aftercare and help, even though nearly all of them had had several contacts with professional health care workers in the period following the hijacking. A number of variables are described which are related to lower degrees of well‐being and more negative aftereffects in ex‐hostages, thereby suggesting the predictability of greatervulnerability in some hostages.
Efficacy of the eye movement desensitization procedure in the treatment of traumatic memories
Authors: Shapiro Francine 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of the recently developed Eye Movement Desensitization (EMD) procedure on traumatic memory symptomatology. Twenty‐two subjects suffering from symptoms related to traumatic memories were used in the study. All had been victims of traumatic incidents concerning the Vietnam War, childhood sexual molestation, sexual or physical assault, or emotional abuse. Memories of the traumatic incident were pivotal to the presenting complaints which included intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, sleep disturbances, low self‐esteem, and relationship problems. Dependent variables were (1) anxiety level, (2) validity of a positive self‐statement/assessment of the traumatic incident, and (3) presenting complaints. These measures were obtained at the initial session and at 1‐ and 3‐month follow‐up sessions. The results of the study indicated that a single session of the EMD procedure successfully desensitized the subjects' traumatic memories and dramatically altered their cognitive assessments of the situation, effects that were maintained through the 3‐month follow‐up check. This therapeutic benefit was accompanied by behavioral shifts which included the alleviation of the subjects' primary presenting complaints.
Inpatient psychiatric combat veterans' attitudes toward contemporary issues: A changing generation?
Authors: Pendorf James E. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractEighty military combat veterans (M age = 39.9 years) hospitalized for symptoms of traumatic stress completed a 29‐item questionnaire addressing such societal topics as political power, police authority, drugs, societal laws, religion, and sexual attitudes. Responses are compared to a sample of their adolescent age cohorts (N = 93) and their parents' age cohorts (N = 91) who answered the same questionnaire 20 years ago. Compared to the adolescent cohort sample, combat veterans' attitudes toward societal issues were significantly different on 87% of these issues. Now their parents' age, these veterans' attitudes are significantly different from 70% of the items as those of their parents' cohort 20 years ago. These results demonstrate how combat Vietnam veterans' attitudes toward some salient societal issues have shifted dramatically from those of their peers a generation ago, yet are also considerably different from the attitudes held by their parents' cohorts at that same time.
Prevention of post‐traumatic stress disorders
Authors: Brom D. , Kleber R. J. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis article deals with issues which are helpful in designing preventive outreach programs for victims of traumatic stress. The first part outlines a theoretical approach to the process of coping with serious life events. The second part analyzes the various aspect of mental assistance after such events. Aims of psychological intervention and different components of intervention programs are discussed. Finally the authors describe a specific program of psychological assistance that has been developed for employees of organizations (especially banking corporations), who have become victim of violence, such as in bank robberies and hijackings. The article is partly based on the practice of preventive counselling programs which are being developed in The Netherlands.
The collapse of a structure: A structural approach to trauma
Authors: Benyakar Mordechai , Kutz Ilan , Dasberg Haim , Stern Max J. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractApplying an analytic approach to the concept of trauma, the authors differentiate trauma from other stress disorders and define trauma as the collapse of the structure of self along all its referential planes, resulting from the encounter of a catastrophic threat and a chaotic response, producing the unique traumatic experience. The post‐traumatic state is conceptualized as a reorganizing transitional state, aimed at restoring autonomy, which can proceed by encapsulation only. The post‐traumatic stress disorder is regarded as the manifest clinical syndrome of the post‐traumatic state. By providing a systematic conceptual framework, the analytic structural approach to trauma allows clearer guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of traumatized patients.
Eighteen‐month follow‐up of neuropsychiatric effects of pentaborane intoxication
Authors: Silverman Joel J. , Hart Robert P. , Stockman Susan J. , Hamer Robert M. , Garrettson Lorne K. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractFourteen individuals briefly exposed to the neurotoxic compound Pentaborane were reevaluated 18 months following initial neurpsychiatric study. Psychiatric interview utilizing standardized diagnostic criteria, neuropsychological and psychological assessment, and CT scan ventricular brain ratios were reevaluated. Assessment revealed interaction of bilogical and psychological factors worsening. Post‐traumatic stress disorder, major affective disorder, alcohol abuse, and phobias were the most common diagnoses at follow‐up.
Cross‐cultural care for PTSD: Research, training, and service needs for the future
Authors: Westermeyer Joseph 
Published: June 2007

AbstractTreating the consequences of violence in refugees, immigrants, and other minority groups is complicated by several factors. One of these factors involves the treatment of such problems, which are often related to both past violence as well as to current adverse conditions or precipitants. Another factor relates to cross‐cultural assessment and treatment, which requires special education, experience, and supervision. Thirdly, there is usually the matter of concurrent acculturation, which may be undermined by biopsychosocial maladjustment due to past violence and which may in turn precipitate psychiatric syndromes that are related to previous violence. The future implications of these factors for research, training, and service needs are reviewed in this paper.
Comment on Dr. Westermeyer's paper
Authors: Athey Jean Garrison 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis commentary on Dr. Westermeyer's paper emphasizes and further explicates several issues which are raised in the original paper. Problems of diagnosis and treatment of PTSD among refugee groups are discussed, as is the need for cross‐cultural training of mental health specialists. The lack of attention to the needs of child refugees in services, training, and research is pointed out.
Marital disruption and physical illness: The impact of divorce and spouse death on illness
Authors: Sherwood Williams J. , Siegel Judith P. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractMost research focusing on life stresses and illness have focused on the history of stress on persons who present physicians with disease symptoms and have used ex‐post‐facto samples. These studies have tended to focus on specialized samples and, thus, screen out the potential effects of psychosocial factors. This study examines the relationship between two critical life stressors, divorce and spouse death, and physical illness in the general population. Data for this study were gathered from a national probability sample of noninstitutionalized adults in the continental United States. The influence of age, sex, education, and income on the relationship between the two life stressors and illness are examined. Statistically significant results were found between both life stressors and illness. Conditional analysis also yielded evidence that both divorce and spouse death were responded to differently depending on the respondent age, sex, income, and educational attainment. Among the findings, the significant increase of illness among younger persons who had experienced a divorce or the death of a spouse is considered most noteworthy.
Holocaust survivors: Coping with post‐traumatic memories in childhood and 40 years later
Authors: Mazor A. , Gampel Y. , Enright R. D. , Orenstein R. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis essay deals with coping processes of childhood trauma of survivors who were children during World War II over the lifecycle in a nonclinical group. The main issues refer to: (1) responses to war memories immediately after the war and 40 years later; (2) dealing with memories and feelings at present; (3) victims' feelings and attitudes toward the persecutor; (4) attitudes of survivors' children to the war experience of their parents; and (5) coping styles immediately and 40 years after the war, including the survivors' responses at present. Using a semistructural interview and a qualitative content analysis of interviews, it is suggested that for most persons the reactivation of memories and the need to document their experiences enhances, in a limited scope, the recognition of their loss and brings some relief; it also discloses new ways for these adults to comprehend their traumatic past.
The process of coping with sexual trauma
Authors: Roth Susan , Newman Elana 
Published: June 2007

AbstractIn coping with sexual trauma, a survivor must come to understand the emotional impact of the trauma so that she is no longer preoccupied or driven by negative feelings, and must grapple with the meaning of the trauma until an adaptive resolution is achieved. In this paper, we present a conceptual system that we believe characterizes the coping process of recovery from sexual trauma. We present clinical examples of the use of the system from a psychotherapy group for female incest survivors, and the system's preliminary reliability results in measuring the coping process.
Predisposing variables in PTSD patients
Authors: Emery V. Olga , Emery Paul E. , Shama Delek K. , Quiana Nancy A. , Jassani Amir K. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe conceptualization of predisposition to Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorders(PTSD) is summarized by three models: (1) predisposition due to preexisting psychopathology, (2) predisposition due to preexisting traits or characteristics considered normal, and (3) predisposition due to preexisting experience of specified stressors in family of origin. The investigation reported can be subsumed under the third model. The study involved the exploration of major stressors found in families of origin of 40 veterans, 20 who later developed PTSD and 20 who did not develop PTSD, with key demographic and military service variables balanced across groups. Additionally, the study focused on childhood perceptions of major stressors in family of origin. Findings suggest PTSD veterans had greater childhood stress related to parental alcoholism and unemployment than did non‐PTSD counterparts. Further, the data suggest two major sets of childhood perceptions separate the two groups of veterans: (1) parental alcoholism/unemployment in the perception of PTSD participants, and (2) parental strictness/delegation of responsibility in the perception of non‐PTSD participants. Methodological refinements are discussed that are needed to better hone in on the connection between family system stressors during primary socialization, subsequent phenomenology, and risk for PTSD.
Acute stressors and chronic stress at Three Mile Island
Authors: Davison Laura M. , Weiss Linda , O'Keeffe Mary , Baum Andrew 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe relationship between acute and chronic stress was examined by studying the effects of an acute stressor on ongoing stress response. A group of people living near Three Mile Island were compared with a group of control subjects living 80 miles away on measures of stress 2 months before and 1 month after restart of the undamaged nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island. Consistent with earlier findings, people living near Three Mile Island, as a group, exhibited more evidence of stress before the restart than did controls, including greater symptom reporting, poorer task performances, and higher blood pressure and urinary catecholamine levels. The restart did not heighten stress responding in the Three Mile Island group; after the restart, symptom reporting decreased slightly but blood pressure, catecholamine levels, and task performance were comparable to prerestart levels. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Coping with sexual assault: The roles of account‐making and confiding
Authors: Harvey John H. , Chwalisz Kathleen D. , Garwood Gail , Orbuch Terri L. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractA study was conducted to evaluate the roles of account‐making (i.e., story‐like constructions involving explanations, reported memories, description, and emotional expression) and confiding in empathic others as facilitators of recovery for survivors of sexual assault. Twenty‐five women and one man anonymously participated in a questionnaire study that asked them to provide accounts of instances of sexual assault, their own and others' reactions to the assault, and their perceptions of the impact of the assault on aspects of their lives. Respondents' reactions were coded and classified by independent raters. Consistent with parts of the theoretical conception, included among the findings were the following: (1) account‐making was positively associated with successful coping and with helpful confidant reactions; (2) empathic confidant reactions occurring early after the assault led to more successful coping than did nonempathic reactions occurring either in the first twelve months or later after the assault; and (3) incest survivors indicated that they had more difficulty in coping and in their close relationships than did nonincest survivors. The data are discussed in terms of the value of story‐construction activities and confiding as vital to the recovery process.
Chronic combat‐related PTSD and concurrent substance abuse: Implications for treatment of this frequent “dual diagnosis”
Authors: Boudewyns Patrick A. , Hyer Lee , Albrecht J. William , Woods M. Gail 
Published: June 2007

AbstractVietnam combat veterans suffering from post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who had requested treatment through a special VA‐sponsored PTSD treatment program were evaluated using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). Based on the DIS, 91.12% of the sample had a lifetime diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence and this was, by far, the most frequent co‐diagnosis in the sample. The most common reason for patients not completing the treatment program was for use of illegal substances or alcohol while in the program, even though they were aware that to do so meant that they would be either discharged or transferred to another unit. The percentage of other co‐diagnoses, and an estimate of currentness for all Axis I diagnoses were also presented on the sample of 102 patients. It was determined that for this population, the symptoms of substance abuse were chronic and were inextricably intertwined with PTSD symptoms and with the initial stressor (combat). Treatment process implications were discussed.
Learning about combat stress from Homer's Iliad
Authors: Shay Jonathan 
Published: June 2007

AbstractVietnam Veterans with severe post‐traumatic stress disorder often report the following combat experiences: a leader's betrayal of “what's right,” lost responsiveness to claims outside a tiny circle of combat‐proven comrades, grief and guilt for a dead special comrade, lust for revenge, renunciation of homecoming, feeling “already dead,” going berserk, dishonoring the enemy, and atrocities. These elements are all in Homer's Iliad account of Achilles, allowing the reader to witness them as they happen, so to speak. Homer's view of healing and regained humanity is discussed in relation to the Iliad's final scene. The Iliad offers a cross‐cultural look at men in battle, and raises questions about some assumptions in American military culture, particularly regarding grief and the need to degrade the enemy to make men fight. Betrayal of “what's right” and the berserk state are suggested as key pathogens for PTSD in combat soldiers.