For more than half a century, the people of Cyprus have reported missing family members to the authorities. Not knowing the fate of a loved one who disappeared during ethnic clashes led families into a state of ambiguous loss, a condition known to cause significant psychological stress. The main goal was to investigate role of identification and funeral process related experience in explaining variance in psychological distress, while controlling for psychosocial variables. Using a cross-sectional design, with total sample size of 898, the study involved two participant groups: Turkish Cypriots (TC) and Greek Cypriots (GC). Separate hierarchical regressions were conducted to examine predictors of psychological distress in both groups. When gender, resilience, perceived injustice, social support, relationship to the missing person (first-degree vs. second-degree), and coping scores were controlled for, experiences related to identification process negatively predicted psychological distress, whereas experiences related to funeral process positively predicted psychological distress in TC group. In contrast, when psychosocial variables were controlled for, experiences related to identification process positively predicted psychological distress, while experiences related to funeral process negatively predicted psychological distress in GC group. These divergent findings regarding identification and funeral processes suggest a potential influence of sociocultural and political factors. These findings highlighted the prolonged psychological distress experienced by both TC and GC family members of identified missing persons. It is considered essential to provide psychosocial support to the families even after the identification process, taking into account cultural, political, religious, and ethnic considerations and needs of each community.

Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is personal growth which occurs due to experiencing a traumatic or extremely challenging event or crisis. As this review is an update, we aim to perform a contemporary search for demographic characteristics, correlational relationships, and facilitating as well as impeding factors of PTG in suicide bereaved individuals. Additionally, we aim to analyze and shed new light on inter- and intrapersonal (mal)adaptive factors in relation to PTG in individuals bereaved by suicide. Ten new studies from 2019 to 2024 were included after searching six databases. Combining these studies with the original review’s 11 studies meant 21 total studies were investigated (N = 4759 participants). A hierarchical meta-analysis examined impacts of demographic, loss-related, intrapersonal, and interpersonal variables on PTG. An extended analysis was also conducted to investigate intrapersonal and interpersonal (mal)adaptive factors’ effects on PTG. The original review’s findings were replicated showing consistent trends; time since loss, social support, and self-disclosure showed significant positive relationships with PTG. The extended analysis found intrapersonal and interpersonal adaptive factors to be significantly positively correlated to PTG while interpersonal maladaptive factors had a significant negative association with PTG. Interestingly, intrapersonal maladaptive factors showed no significant effect on PTG. This review highlights that implementing intrapersonal and interpersonal adaptive factors along with minimizing maladaptive factors could significantly aid PTG development for individuals bereaved by suicide. This is still a new field of study, so further exploration of facilitating and impeding factors of PTG is warranted.

This mixed-method study explored the psychological impact of the July 27, 2024 tragedy in which 12 children were killed (The Iron Swords War), on bereaved Druze families, examining the roles of faith and community support in coping with loss. A sample of 213 participants answered quantitative measures assessed trauma symptoms, religious belief, and perceived social support, while a subset of 12 participants who were direct victims of the tragedy answered semi-structured interviews, created Kinetic Family Drawings and a narrative to the drawing. Quantitative results showed that direct victims reported significantly higher psychological distress than non-direct community members, while stronger religious belief and perceived social support were associated with lower distress levels. The belief that the soul’s journey shaped by responses to life’s trials moderated the psychological distress and religious commitment (p < .05). Qualitative results of the interviews and drawings showed themes: namely, (1) Deep pain of loss and longing for the deceased son or daughter, (2) The role of community and faith as sources of support and anchoring, and (3) The divine meaning assigned to the loss. Findings highlight the centrality of faith, particularly beliefs in divine will and reincarnation, in framing the loss as meaningful and preordained. Community solidarity emerged as a critical buffer, offering both emotional containment and practical support. Visual expressions, such as family drawings, revealed symbolic representations of grief, and spiritual anchoring. The study underscores the value of culturally sensitive, integrative approaches to trauma research and intervention in minority communities, emphasizing the potential of insider research to foster both knowledge and healing.

The growing population in India invites an associated increase in trauma caused by accidents and lifestyle changes of the population due to modernization, leading to sudden deaths caused by ignorance toward health or a fatal accident. Young trauma-care nurses at the beginning of their career are at the most risk of stress. The study explores the mediating effect of mindfulness and the negative moderation effect of subjective traumatic outlook on the impact of perceived organizational support on nurses’ retention. The cross-sectional study employs a self-reported structured questionnaire and Smart PLS 3.0 for the study purpose. Analysis of responses from 432 Indian Trauma-care nurses aged 18–40 reveal that, while mindfulness mediates the perceptions of organizational support’s impact on retention intention, subjective traumatic outlook weakens the impact of organizational support. The study highlights the impact of subjective traumatic outlook (STO) on trauma nurses’ mental health and emphasizes the role of mindfulness as a coping mechanism. It suggests that understanding STO, promoting mindfulness, and providing organizational support can enhance nurses’ retention and well-being in stressful healthcare settings. The findings pave the way for evidence-based strategies to support nurses’ longevity and job satisfaction.

Individuals find it difficult to cope with the emotional pain of loss and trauma in their life based on intensity of the events. In this context, mindful based interventions play an important role in mitigating the loss and trauma. With this, the present collection “Mindfulness for mitigating loss and trauma” aims to investigate the role of mindfulness to mitigate the loss and trauma among individuals. The twelve papers in the collection discuss the study findings on how mindfulness through various contexts, variables and methodologies play a significant role in mitigating loss and trauma. The collection segregated the papers under the broad categories of mindfulness for mitigating loss and trauma among students and young population, mindfulness for mitigating loss and trauma among parents, and mindfulness interventions for larger good. The collection found out the role of mindfulness in mitigating loss and trauma among various groups with support of mindfulness interventions and practices.

This study aims to examine the relationship between rumination and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in women who experienced perinatal loss, including miscarriage, stillbirth, and termination of pregnancy for a fatal fetal diagnosis. Two types of ruminations are explored, intrusive rumination which is characterized by uncontrolled, invasive thoughts and images, and deliberate rumination, which includes reflective and intentional thoughts allowing individuals to make meaning of the event (Cann et al., 2011, Tedeschi et al., 2018). While previous research suggests a complex interplay between intrusive and deliberate rumination in PTG, this study extends these findings by examining these relationships over time and considering the role of social reactions. A total of 219 women who experienced perinatal loss participated in two online surveys: three months (Wave 1) and six months (Wave 2) post-loss. Results of the hierarchical linear regression and path analysis demonstrated that intrusive rumination and positive social reactions at Wave 2 were positive significant predictors of deliberate rumination at Wave 2, while Wave 1 factors had limited association. Additionally, both intrusive and deliberate rumination at Wave 2 mediated the relation between social reactions at Wave 1 and PTG at Wave 2. These findings highlight the importance of ongoing positive social reactions and their role in shaping cognitive processes that contribute to PTG. The results also suggest that the relationship between different types of rumination and PTG may evolve over time. Understanding these temporal dynamics could provide valuable insights for clinical interventions aimed at fostering PTG in perinatally bereaved women.

Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is a new diagnosis included in ICD-11. Research on ICD-11 PGD has often focused on spousal and parental loss, creating a gap in understanding the probable prevalence rates among older adults affected by diverse loss types. This study examines the prevalence of probable ICD-11 PGD, along with the symptom structure and convergent-divergent validity of the International Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale (IPGDS), in a sample of bereaved older adults. This study analysed data from a large sample (N = 1526) of German-speaking Swiss individuals aged 65 and older. Only those who reported a bereavement (n = 627) were included in the current analyses. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested the latent structure of the IPGDS, and the identified factors were examined in relation to a range of mental health variables. Probable prevalence rates of PGD ranged from 0.5% (strict criteria) to 1.0% (moderate criteria), with no significant gender differences. CFA supported a three-factor model, including Loss, Emotional Numbing, and Emotional Reactivity latent variables, with acceptable estimates of internal reliability. Total and subscale scores were most strongly associated with functional impairment scores, and associations were strongest between the Emotional Numbing subscale and all mental health variables. The findings indicate a lower than typical prevalence of probable PGD among Swiss older adults. Future studies should explore the role of loss-related characteristics in explaining the risk of PGD among older adults.

Approximately 14% of individuals develop PTSD symptoms in response to trauma. Existing literature provides substantial evidence supporting Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in enhancing psychological flexibility and reducing PTSD symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of ACT in managing PTSD symptoms. The PRISMA flowchart was used to guide the selection of relevant studies. A comprehensive meta-analysis was conducted to determine the effect size of ACT’s efficacy. A total of 25 studies were included in the systematic review, while 20 studies were included in meta-analysis. The quality of the selected studies was independently assessed by two reviewers using a quality rating scale (Yates et al., 2005). Meta-analytic findings indicated a mean effect size of 1.274 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.906 to 1.643, reflecting a large treatment effect. However, the narrative synthesis revealed that results across studies were not directly comparable due to heterogeneous study characteristics. This study highlights the strong potential of ACT as an effective intervention for PTSD, particularly in the context of natural and human-made disasters or traumatic incidents. Despite variability across studies, the overall evidence supports ACT’s use in trauma-informed care, warranting further investigation through high-quality, standardized trials.