Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy最新文献

Objective: Although sexual minority women (SMW) veterans are disproportionately impacted by military sexual trauma and its negative consequences, little research has examined effective treatments in this population. This secondary analysis aims to address this gap by reporting outcomes of SMW veterans participating in a clinical trial of skills training in affective and interpersonal regulation (STAIR) compared with present-centered therapy (PCT) for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Method: Women veterans who experienced military sexual trauma (N = 161) were randomly assigned to individual STAIR or PCT. Forty-two participants were SMW (M_age = 45.45, SD = 14.05; 69.0% White) and 119 were heterosexual (M_age = 44.19, SD = 12.53; 54.6% White). Participants completed baseline, posttreatment, and follow-up assessments that included self-report measures of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (Posttraumatic Stress Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition), social support (Interpersonal Support Evaluation List), emotion regulation (Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale), posttraumatic maladaptive beliefs (Posttraumatic Maladaptive Beliefs Scale), depression symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory, Revised), and working alliance (Working Alliance Inventory-Patient Version). Independent samples t tests and piecewise mixed-effects regression models were conducted to evaluate SMW veterans' outcomes.

Results: Both groups (sexual minority and heterosexual women) improved on posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. SMW started off with comparable symptoms to heterosexual women but improved more on emotion regulation (p = .002), maladaptive beliefs (p = .002), and depression symptoms (p = .002) than heterosexual participants. Regardless of sexual orientation, participants had greater benefits in STAIR. Therapeutic alliance and treatment satisfaction were high in both STAIR and PCT with no difference between groups.

Conclusions: SMW veterans may particularly benefit from therapies that focus on emotion regulation, interpersonal skills, and/or provide strategies that address day-to-day stressors (e.g., STAIR, PCT). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Childhood trauma has been linked to motivational dysregulation in both clinical and nonclinical populations, leading to poorer overall functioning and reduced response to treatments. Additionally, even in community samples, childhood trauma is linked with various psychiatric symptoms known to further influence motivational processes, such as depression, anxiety, perceived stress, and anhedonia. The present study examines the role of these psychiatric symptoms in the relationship between childhood trauma and motivational tendencies (i.e., motivation orientations) in a sample of undergraduate students.

Method: Undergraduate students (N = 1,729) completed a series of self-report questionnaires, including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the General Causality Orientation Scale-Clinical Populations, which assesses intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation orientations. Three multiple mediation models estimated the effect of childhood trauma on each motivation orientation through the simultaneous indirect effects of various psychiatric symptoms (depression, anxiety, anhedonia, perceived stress).

Results: Childhood trauma was associated with lower intrinsic motivation and greater extrinsic motivation through the indirect effects of perceived stress (95% CI [-0.046, -0.016] and 95% CI [0.003, 0.016], respectively) and anhedonia (95% CI [-0.054, -0.030] and 95% CI [-0.008, -0.016], respectively). In addition, childhood trauma was associated with greater amotivation through the effects of depression (95% CI [0.018, 0.055]) and anxiety (95% CI [0.009, 0.038]) symptoms.

Conclusions: Findings highlight differential symptom and affective factors that contribute to the associations between childhood trauma and motivation orientation in young adulthood, supporting targeted interventions for individuals who have experienced childhood trauma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Trauma has a profound and lasting impact on individuals. Trauma prevalence continues to rise nationally, yet few health care providers are trained to intervene and address trauma appropriately. Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) have a unique role in addressing trauma due to our profession's ability to intervene across the lifespan. This study investigated the education and training OTPs received in trauma-informed care (TIC) practices and their perceptions and confidence levels in utilizing these approaches in practice.

Method: Three hundred twenty-one participants were recruited online using convenience, purposeful, and snowball sampling methods. Participants completed an anonymous 14-question online survey.

Results: The study indicated that over half the participants (51%) felt only moderately confident in applying TIC methods. A substantial percentage (46%) did not learn these practices during their occupational therapy education. For those who did, the training was typically limited to a single chapter or unit, suggesting a need for more in-depth curriculum integration.

Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the critical need for TIC education and training early in OTPs' careers. While therapists recognize the importance of TIC approaches in their practice, they require additional education and support to integrate these approaches confidently. Addressing this gap through comprehensive TIC education in occupational therapy training programs is essential to enhancing the capacity of OTPs to provide TIC effectively. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Adverse childhood experiences have been associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes and occur predominantly within the family. Many widely used assessments of early adversities have significant psychometric limitations and have not been adequately integrated with established theories relating parent-child interactions to similar outcomes. To examine the behaviorally specific ratings of parent-child interactions in early childhood associated with concurrent adverse childhood experiences believed to confer risk for poor health.

Method: In total, 180 young adult undergraduates (52% female, M_age = 21, SD = 6.2 years) enrolled at a large public university in the Southwestern United States. The majority of participants identified as White (73.6%; 10.7% Hispanic, and 7.9% Asian American), were full-time students (81.4%), employed (60.3%), and made less than $15,000 annually (66.0%). Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between affiliation-hostility and autonomy-control in interactions between parents and children, and total early adverse experiences, subtypes of early adversity (e.g., abuse, neglect), and individual adverse experiences, separately.

Results: Greater hostility in interactions with fathers (β = -0.68, p < .001) and mothers (β = -0.48, p < .001), as well as greater autonomy with mothers (β = 0.14, p = .047) were significantly associated with total early adversities. Similarly, greater hostility was consistently associated with subcategories of adverse experiences (abuse, neglect, and household chaos), while associations with autonomy-control differed by subcategory.

Conclusions: Results suggest that hostile and distant interpersonal processes in the early family environment may underlie and contribute to exposure to early adversities and associated outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: This study examined the associations between momentary intrusive memories, emotion regulation, and affect among Chinese Australian and European Australian trauma survivors.

Method: Trauma survivors (46 European Australians, 49 Chinese Australians) completed momentary measures of intrusions, emotion regulation, and positive and negative affect using an ecological momentary assessment procedure.

Results: First, presence of intrusions was associated with greater use of emotion suppression, rumination, reappraisal, problem solving, and worry. Second, cultural group moderated the associations between intrusions and both worry and rumination, with these associations being stronger for the European Australian group than the Chinese Australian group. Third, momentary intrusions moderated the negative associations between (a) worry and positive affect and (b) reappraisal and negative affect; these associations were stronger for those who had experienced an intrusion. Finally, momentary intrusions and cultural group simultaneously moderated the association between (a) reappraisal and positive affect and (b) emotion suppression and negative affect.

Conclusion: Momentary intrusions were associated with diverse emotion regulation strategy use and moderated associations between emotion regulation strategy use and affect. Importantly, cultural group moderated some of these associations, suggesting the use of emotion regulation strategies is not universal. The findings highlight the importance of considering cultural context in trauma treatment and a need for further research in this area. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Most individuals who experience rape do not call it "rape"; rather, they use less stigmatizing terms like "miscommunication," "bad sex," or "sexual assault." When individuals use minimizing terms such as "miscommunication," this is termed "lack of acknowledgment." Lack of acknowledgment is associated with risk for repeated victimization and mixed findings regarding mental health symptoms. Empirical data and theory suggests acknowledgment is nuanced and changes over the lifespan; yet most research uses single item dichotomous measures. The goal of this study is to explore response format (dichotomous vs. scaled) and alternate label choice (sexual assault) as ways to optimize measurement and assessment.

Method: Participants, N = 439, received three acknowledgment items randomized throughout a larger survey: rape acknowledgement with a dichotomous (yes/no) response format, rape acknowledgment with a scaled response format, and sexual assault acknowledgment with a dichotomous response format.

Results: More participants acknowledged rape on a scaled response format than dichotomous, 20.7% versus 14.3. Participants were 1.4-2.5× more likely to acknowledge sexual assault via the item "I was sexually assaulted" than asking the same question using the word rape. There were gender differences in every analysis, with men 2.8-6.6× less likely to acknowledge rape or sexual assault than women.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that using a scaled response and additional labels like sexual assault may better characterize individuals' experiences improving the measurement and assessment of sexual assault. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Major earthquakes often cause extensive physical, emotional, and social disruptions, potentially triggering posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) as well as posttraumatic growth (PTG). This study examined PTSS and PTG among adults affected by two high-magnitude earthquakes (Mw 7.7 and 7.6) that struck the Kahramanmaras region of Türkiye, a seismically active area located along a major fault line.

Method: This cross-sectional and correlational study was conducted from April to July 2023 and involved 178 participants living in temporary dormitory shelters. Data collection included a personal information form, the Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Scale, and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory.

Results: More than half the participants reported severe fear (53.1%), loss of relatives (50.3%), relatives who were injured (53.1%), or financial loss due to the earthquake (50.8%). The most commonly reported PTSS symptom cluster was hyperarousal. Mean PTSS and PTG scores were 84.51 ± 22.24 and 60.73 ± 22.19, respectively. Regression analysis showed that intense fear during the earthquake significantly predicted higher PTSS scores, while a history of preexisting mental illness was associated with lower PTSS. No significant correlation was found between PTSS and PTG, suggesting these outcomes may develop independently in the early stages of disaster recovery.

Conclusions: These findings underscore the need for psychosocial support tailored to postearthquake circumstances, particularly given the reported high PTSS levels. Larger scale research is recommended to refine these insights and to guide targeted interventions. Mental health professionals (i.e., psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, and psychologists) play pivotal roles in delivering comprehensive care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: As interest in trauma-informed assessment grows, client-level screening and diagnostic tools, as well as organizational- and systems-level evaluation tools, are emerging. However, measures conceptually grounded in a developmental trauma framework are still lacking. The purpose of the present study is to describe the development and initial testing of the Trauma-Informed Child Well-Being Scale (T-CWS), a developmentally informed, relationship-based, and trauma-sensitive measure of child social-emotional well-being.

Method: The T-CWS is a 25-item observational tool based on child-caregiver dyadic interactions. Consistent with the principles of trauma-informed care, the T-CWS has three subscales: Connection, Felt-Safety, and Regulation. Participants comprised 20 clinicians who were trained to use the T-CWS and then independently scored 15 prerecorded videos, for a total of 300 observations. Participants also rated the T-CWS for feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability.

Results: Using generalizability theory to account for the variance attributable to participants, repeated scale items, and repeated videos viewed, analyses indicated moderate to substantial internal consistency. The T-CWS reliably differentiated stable individual differences between cases and was able to detect systemic variation in videos. Further, participants rated the T-CWS as a feasible, appropriate, and acceptable instrument for use in clinical practice.

Conclusions: The T-CWS shows promise as a new measure for assessing child well-being through the lens of developmental trauma. While further testing is needed, the T-CWS could help providers better evaluate the needs and treatment goals of trauma survivors. Further, the T-CWS could prove useful for assessing individual outcomes associated with trauma-informed care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Recent research has increasingly focused on the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and prosociality, with debates due to inconsistent evidence. By comparing these studies, we assumed that different ways of classifying ACEs may affect the results of the analysis. Thus, we reviewed three theoretical frameworks for classifying ACEs and examined how these classifications impact the prediction on social mindfulness.

Method: In Study 1, 781 Chinese university students (349 males, 432 females; M_age = 20.03) completed an online survey about social mindfulness and ACEs. In Study 2, as previous research indicates potential inconsistencies between self-report and behavioral measures, to further verify the findings of Study 1, 170 Chinese university students (50 males, 120 females; M_age = 21.17) completed a Social Mindfulness test and an ACE questionnaire. During the analysis, ACEs were classified using three frameworks: threat/deprivation, interpersonal/environmental, and process/context. Multiple linear regression, relative weight analysis, and Vuong's test were used to assess and compare the predictive performance of these models.

Results: The interpersonal/environmental model showed the strongest and most stable prediction of social mindfulness.

Conclusions: The interpersonal/environmental model has unique advantages in explaining the impact of ACEs on social mindfulness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Grounded in a phenomenology framework, this qualitative case study interrogates the structural embedding of childhood trauma within the linguistic and phenomenological aspects of schizophrenia. It posits that traumatic experiences are not merely reflected in but actively reorganize communicative patterns, becoming grammatically and narratively encoded in psychotic discourse.

Method: A multilevel discourse analysis was applied to verbatim transcripts from two historical, publicly available recordings of a clinically diagnosed male patient: a structured clinical interview and an unstructured home visit. Employing a triangulation design, the analysis integrated patient narrative, clinician assessments, and familial observations. Coding was conducted through an iterative, deductive-inductive process focused on linguistic strata: syntactic structure, lexical semantics, narrative coherence, and dialogical dynamics.

Results: The analysis delineated a distinct psycholinguistic configuration indicative of trauma reorganization. Dominant themes include the following: (a) syntactic reenactment-rigid, persecutory interrogatives fossilizing victim-perpetrator frameworks; (b) lexical hypervigilance-a semantically constrained lexicon centered on violation and somatic threat; (c) narrative dissociation-abrupt thematic shifts and displaced trauma disclosures that disrupt autobiographical coherence; and (d) dialogical rupture-interlocutor-specific speech patterns reenacting attachment conflicts. These markers form a coherent, trauma-organized communicative system persistent across contexts.

Conclusions: Trauma in schizophrenia may operate as a structural determinant of communication, not a comorbid overlay. Personalized, linguistically informed, trauma-focused interventions may reduce the accompanying interpersonal distress. We provide an outline for studying discursive markers to investigate therapies targeting trauma-derived syntactic and narrative frameworks. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).