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

Objective: Bullying is common in childhood. Identifying developmental periods most sensitive to bullying may improve understanding of the link between bullying and psychotic disorders.

Method: Forty-six individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder; SZ), 53 with psychotic bipolar disorder (BP), and 51 healthy control (HC) participants completed the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposures questionnaire. We tested for differences in the rates and severity of emotional and physical bullying across diagnostic groups, and also calculated odds ratios (OR's) for emotional and physical bullying in SZ and BP versus HC. As a primary goal of the study, we also examined associations between diagnosis, the timing of bullying in childhood, and bullying severity using nonlinear mixed effects models.

Results: Patients with SZ (OR range = 3.41-21.88) and BP (OR range = 2.48-11.63) reported both emotional and physical bullying at higher rates than HC. In general, emotional bullying severity increased between ages 5-11 years, peaked at age 11, then decreased between ages 11-17. Notably, there was a Timing × Diagnosis interaction for both SZ (β = 0.09, p_FDR < .01) and BP (β = 0.09, p_FDR < .01) for the interval spanning ages 5-11. For physical bullying severity, only SZ patients showed a Timing × Diagnosis interaction for the period spanning 5-11 compared with HC (β = 0.05, p_FDR < .01).

Conclusions: Retrospective reports of childhood bullying suggest that the developmental period spanning ages 5-11 years may be a vulnerable period when emotional and physical bullying are most severe for people with psychotic disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Family strain, which reflects the overall function of the family system, could play an important role in routine posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) care. We examined how high/low family strain influences perceptions of a family-involved intervention for Veterans with PTSD to inform the design and implementation of family-centered interventions in routine PTSD care.

Method: Sequential explanatory mixed methods study that analyzed qualitative exit interview data from a three-session family-involved pilot study stratified by Veteran baseline scores of family strain (Veteran n = 16; support partner [SP] n = 12). Themes were identified via rapid qualitative analysis of interview data categorized by high/low strain.

Results: Eleven Veterans (nine associated SPs) were classified as experiencing high and five Veterans (three associated SPs) were classified as experiencing low family strain. While nearly 50% of Veterans reported belonging to a non-White racial group, all of the Veterans were men. Themes reflected preintervention expectations, intervention experiences, and postintervention changes. Differences in intervention experiences were observed with different family strain levels. Participants in the high strain group articulated concrete goals for the intervention and provided more details about benefits, including an enhanced understanding of PTSD, improved family communication, and increased social support. Participants in the high strain group reported more discomfort with the intervention process, especially the conjoint sessions.

Conclusions: Family-involved interventions for Veterans with high family strain are feasible and may have even greater benefits than for Veterans reporting low family strain. Future research is needed to empirically test this hypothesis and to understand the experiences of female Veterans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Interpersonal violence is a common barrier to reintegration into civilian life in post-9/11 veterans. Alcohol use and anger, also common among veterans, are both risk factors for violence. The present study used longitudinal data to examine relationships between these factors.

Method: Post-9/11-era veterans (N = 302) were assessed via clinical interviews and self-report questionnaires at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months on alcohol use, anger, violence, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. Multilevel structural modeling was used to compare two different mediation models across the three waves of data.

Results: The indirect effect of changes in alcohol use on violence via changes in anger was significant (p = .046). When covarying for PTSD symptom severity, the effects of Path A and Path B were consistent; however, the indirect effect between alcohol use and violence was no longer significant (p = .076). The indirect effect of changes in anger on violence via changes in alcohol use was not significant (p = .074).

Conclusions: Alcohol use, anger, and violence are variables closely influencing one another. The association between changes in anger and subsequent violence was not mediated by changes in alcohol use. The association between changes in alcohol use and subsequent violence was mediated by changes in anger; however, this mediating effect disappeared when controlling for PTSD severity. These findings shed light on the importance of anger and PTSD as contributors to the relationship between alcohol use and violence. They suggest that assessing and treating anger may reduce violence among veterans with problematic alcohol use. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Chronic pain often co-occurs with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The mutual maintenance hypothesis proposes that there may be shared underlying mechanisms of symptoms of pain exacerbating PTSD, and vice versa. The association between PTSD and pain intensity remains understudied. To elucidate the relationship, the present study examined the temporality of changes in PTSD severity and pain intensity in veterans undergoing intensive PTSD treatment.

Method: Data from 332 veterans undergoing intensive 2-week cognitive processing therapy- (CPT-) based treatment (ITP) with adjunctive components (i.e., mindfulness, art therapy). Random intercepts cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) were used to examine within-subjects relationships between pain intensity and PTSD severity over the course of the program.

Results: Veterans experienced large PTSD severity reductions (Essg = 1.20; p < .001) and small pain severity reductions (Essg = 0.21; p < .001) over the course of treatment, despite pain not being a treatment target. RI-CLPMs revealed that PTSD severity significantly predicted subsequent pain severity. Results indicate the absence of a bidirectional relationship in that changes in pain intensity did not predict later PTSD severity improvement during the ITP. Time trends for both PTSD severity and pain intensity were generally consistent with respect to baseline demographic characteristics.

Conclusion: Our findings support the mutual maintenance regarding the association between PTSD and pain intensity. Future research should investigate temporal associations in other evidence-based PTSD treatments and formats and evaluate the long-term impacts of PTSD treatment on pain intensity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Military sexual trauma (MST) has gained national attention since the Navy Tailhook scandal, in which 90 service members reported being sexually assaulted and/or harassed by military personnel (Monteith et al., 2015). Screenings administered in the early 2000s revealed that approximately one in five women and one in 100 men seen in Veteran Affairs medical hospitals screen positive for MST (Schweitzer, 2013). The current literature has advanced our understanding of the prevalence of MST and the impact sexual trauma has on the overall health and well-being of MST survivors. Additionally, the literature on moral injury has expanded inquiry into how perpetration of and failure to prevent violence is associated with psychiatric distress and decreased functioning. However, there is a dearth of research on service members who perpetrate MST and those who fail to intervene or report sexual trauma, and the psychiatric effects of these actions or inactions on these individuals. This commentary explores the possible benefits and risks of expanding the assessment of MST to include perpetration and failing to intervene or report MST. We discuss this within the larger context of MST assessment, future research, and prevention and intervention efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Although much research focuses on the negative effects of trauma, it is vital to explore why some individuals thrive despite adversity, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Kosovo, a postconflict society in southeastern Europe, has received relatively little attention in trauma and resilience research. In this study, we examined potential benefits of 13 strengths: regulatory (coping, positive emotion regulation, humor), interpersonal (social support and social leisure), meaning-making (purpose, hope, collective hope, and moral meaning-making), and environmental (eco-connections and built environment). Five of these are newly developed scales, and two more are being used in Kosovo for the first time, including both measures for the new domain of environmental strengths. This is also the first quantitative study of institutional betrayal in Kosovo.

Method: Our study surveyed 500 young adults (75% women). In addition to the data on strengths, participants reported on experiences of victimization and institutional betrayal, subjective well-being, posttraumatic growth, and trauma symptoms.

Results: Most (86.6%) participants experienced some form of adversity, including institutional betrayal. Blockwise logistic regressions demonstrated that higher levels of personal hope, moral meaning-making, positive emotion regulation, mindfulness, social leisure, social support received, eco-connections, and poly-strengths significantly predicted at least one outcome of posttraumatic growth, subjective well-being, and trauma symptoms. Some measures were also significant in the unexpected direction, indicating that not all strengths help people overcome trauma.

Conclusions: These findings add global support for multidimensional approaches to resilience and suggest new measures for assessment of strengths. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Men who have experienced military sexual trauma (MST) are at heightened risk for a broad range of health and psychosocial sequelae yet often struggle to sustain participation in mental health care. The aim of this project was to examine whether men would tolerate and potentially benefit from a trauma-focused, discussion-based group treatment related to MST.

Method: This nonrandomized project is a mixed method analysis of clinical data collected among patients who completed treatment (n = 72) over a 6-year period (2019-2025) and reports on intervention feasibility and acceptability, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, recovery, and belongingness and shame.

Results: This study provides preliminary evidence for feasibility, acceptability, and clinical benefit. Contrary to prediction, there were no significant pre- to posttreatment quantitative changes in shame or belongingness, although qualitative data suggested a different pattern of participant experience.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that a trauma-focused, discussion-centered group therapy approach may be relevant for men with histories of MST, a population with unique clinical distress and treatment underutilization. This alternative therapeutic approach merits additional study as an alternative approach for MST-related care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Moral injury is defined as the profound psychological, emotional, spiritual, and existential distress that arises from exposure to potentially morally injurious events-situations that violate deeply held moral beliefs and expectations. The Moral Injury Outcome Scale (MIOS) has emerged as a robust tool for assessing moral injury. The MIOS, initially validated in English-speaking military populations, was recently adapted into a 14-item French version.

Method: This version was evaluated in a sample of 390 French-speaking Canadian Armed Forces personnel. To assess measurement invariance, the MIOS was further tested in a comparative sample of 490 English-speaking Canadian Armed Forces personnel deployed on the same operation.

Results: The French version of the MIOS showed strong psychometric properties with strong internal consistency reliability, factorial validity, and convergent validity. The proposed two-factor structure was consistent with the MIOS English version, and measurement invariance testing confirmed that the French and English versions of the MIOS satisfied configural, metric, and scalar invariance within military personnel.

Conclusion: Overall, the French version of the MIOS is a valid and reliable measure, enabling robust assessment of moral injury among French-speaking populations and broadening its applicability in research and clinical settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Although the link between childhood trauma and depression has previously been established, more protective factors have yet to be explored. This study examined the moderating effects of career satisfaction on the relationship between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms.

Method: A convenience sample of young adults (N = 340) aged 18 to 24 in a survey project. Participants completed validated screening measures for childhood trauma and depressive symptoms, as well as their level of career satisfaction at baseline (T1), then reported their depressive symptoms again at follow-up (T2) after 3 months. Multiple regression and moderation analyses were used to analyze the data.

Results: After controlling for demographic variables and T1 depressive symptoms, childhood trauma (β = .284, p < .001) and career satisfaction (β = -.081, p = .043) significantly predicted T2 depressive symptoms. Moreover, career satisfaction also moderated the effects of childhood trauma on T2 depressive symptoms-childhood trauma predicted T2 depressive symptoms only when the level of career satisfaction was low (B = .514, p = .001).

Conclusions: This study provides evidence that career satisfaction could buffer the effects of childhood trauma on subsequent depressive symptoms. Screening for depressive symptoms and counseling services at the workplace might be beneficial to young adults with childhood trauma. Future studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of trauma-informed career counseling interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: While increasing attention has been paid to the negative ramifications of military service on female veterans, little is known about the factors that support positive adaptation and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in this population. This study examined how military-related risk factors (combat exposure, sexist hostility), outcomes (posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms), and psychological strengths (self-efficacy, self-esteem, psychological flexibility, prosocial intentions, gratitude, hope, and meaning-centered coping) contribute to PTG among Israeli female combat and noncombat veterans.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 808 Israeli female veterans (combat: n = 450; noncombat: n = 358) who completed self-report measures online.

Results: Combat veterans reported significantly higher levels of combat exposure, sexist hostility, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and PTG as compared with noncombat veterans. Among combat veterans, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were negatively associated with PTG. In regression models, among combat veterans, psychological strengths (especially self-efficacy, prosocial intentions, hope, and meaning-centered coping) were associated with higher PTG beyond military-related risk factors. Among noncombat veterans, only hope was significantly associated with PTG.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the dual nature of trauma in military service, both as a source of distress and a potential catalyst for growth. Psychological strengths serve as robust correlates of PTG and may offer promising targets for interventions aimed at fostering recovery and personal development among female veterans. Strength-based approaches that cultivate hope, meaning-making, and interpersonal capacities may enhance healing and resilience following military trauma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).