Effects Of Cumulative Trauma Research Articles

Effects of cumulative trauma from multiple natural disasters

IntroductionFort McMurray, a city in northern Alberta, Canada, has experienced multiple traumatic events in the last five years, including the 2016 wildfire, the 2020 floods, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Traumatic events often lead to increased mental health burdens in affected communities.ObjectivesTo assess if the number of traumatic events experienced by residents of Fort McMurray correlates with the prevalence and severity of mental health issues experienced.MethodsA cross-sectional study using an online survey questionnaire was used to gather demographic, trauma (wildfire, flooding, and COVID-19), and clinical information from the resident of Fort McMurray between April 24 to June 2 2021. Likely Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and low resilience were measured using standardized rating scales. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 26 using Chi-Square tests and multivariate regression analysis.ResultsRespondents who experienced COVID-19 and either flood or wildfire traumas (N = 101) were eleven times more likely to have GAD symptoms (OR: 11.39; 95% CI: 1.43-91.04), four times more likely to have likely MDD, (OR: 3.85; 95% CI: .995-14.90), ten times more likely to have likely PTSD (OR: 10.47; 95% CI: 1.28-85.67), and low resilience (OR: 10.56; 95% CI: 1.21-92.17). Respondents who experienced COVID-19, flooding, and wildfire traumas (N = 47) were eighteen times more likely to express GAD symptoms (OR: 18.30; 95% CI: 2.20-152.45) and more than eleven times likely to have likely PTSD (OR: 11.41; 95% CI: 1.34-97.37) in comparison to the respondents who experienced COVID-19 only trauma (N = 19).ConclusionsMeasures to reduce climate change and associated natural disasters could reduce the impact of cumulative trauma and associated mental health burden in vulnerable populations. It is essential that more mental health resources are mobilized to support communities impacted by multiple natural disasters.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

The effects of Cumulative Trauma and Cognitive Rigidity on the Severity of Depressive Disorder: Preliminary Results

IntroductionThe long-lasting effects of trauma on mental health and the cumulative effect during the lifetime is one of the great interest in research and applied psychology. However, the effect of cumulative trauma in combination with cognitive biases, such as cognitive rigidity (“all-or-nothing” thinking pattern), on the severity of depression has not been tested yet.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to analyse these variables, while considering for differential gender effects on a sample of patients with the diagnosis of depressive disorder.MethodsA total sample of 177 patients (137 women) were assessed using the Cumulative Trauma Scale. Cognitive rigidity was measured with the Repertory Grid Technique and severity of depressive symptoms with the Beck Depression Inventory.Resultsindicated that high levels of cognitive rigidity and high frequency of perceived negative cumulative trauma predicted depressive symptoms; while high frequency of perceived positive trauma did not predict depressive symptoms. Moreover, gender did not explain variability of depression, and its interaction with frequency of perceived trauma was not significant.ConclusionsOverall, traumatic cumulative trauma frequency and its negative appraisal are key to the understanding the severity of depression but also cognitive rigidity seemed to be a relevant factor to consider. Thus, these results highlight the need to focus on traumatic and cognitive aspects to increase the efficacy of psychological interventions in depression.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Cumulative trauma and midlife well-being in American women who served in Vietnam: effects of combat exposure and postdeployment social support

Background and Objectives: Research increasingly demonstrates that trauma exposure can have cumulative effects, yet much remains to be learned about effects of cumulative trauma, particularly regarding longer term adjustment. One such trauma, combat exposure, is insufficiently understood, especially for women, who are increasingly engaged in professional combat activities. Design: The study comprised a cross-sectional survey assessing multiple aspects of current well-being in women approximately 25 years after their service in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Methods: Participants were 1374 women (78% military and 22% nonmilitary; mean age = 59.7). This study investigated the relations between three separate categories of trauma exposure (childhood, adulthood, and combat) and well-being and examined whether perceived social support at return from Vietnam moderated the association between combat exposure and well-being. Results: While both childhood and adulthood trauma exposure related to midlife well-being, combat exposure still uniquely predicted outcomes. Further, postdeployment perceived social support moderated the association of combat and well-being: recollected higher perceived social support at homecoming buffered participants from the links between combat exposure and well-being. Conclusions: These results may have important implications for interventions to reduce the impact of traumatic experiences, particularly in light of the increasing exposure of women to direct combat events.

The role of cumulative trauma, betrayal, and appraisals in understanding trauma symptomatology.

Poor psychological outcomes are common among trauma survivors, yet not all survivors experience adverse sequelae. The current study examined links between cumulative trauma exposure as a function of the level of betrayal (measured by the relational closeness of the survivor and the perpetrator), trauma appraisals, gender, and trauma symptoms. Participants were 273 college students who reported experiencing at least one traumatic event on a trauma checklist. Three cumulative indices were constructed to assess the number of different types of traumas experienced that were low (LBTs), moderate (MBTs), or high in betrayal (HBTs). Greater trauma exposure was related to more symptoms of depression, dissociation, and PTSD, with exposure to HBTs contributing the most. Women were more likely to experience HBTs than men, but there were no gender differences in trauma-related symptoms. Appraisals of trauma were predictive of trauma-related symptoms over and above the effects explained by cumulative trauma at each level of betrayal. The survivor's relationship with the perpetrator, the effect of cumulative trauma, and their combined impact on trauma symptomatology are discussed.

Cumulative Tertiary Appraisals of Traumatic Events Across Cultures: Two Studies

Two studies compared the effects of cumulative trauma (CT) with those of cumulative negative (CNTA) and cumulative positive tertiary appraisals (CPTA). The first study was conducted with an adult clinical population in the U.S. (N = 399), while the second study was conducted with adolescent students in Gaza (N = 422). Among the effects found were that path analysis with comulative trauma, positive tertiary appraisal, and cumulative negative tertiary appraisals as independent variables and mental health measures as dependent variables, in both samples, found that CNTA and CPTA had direct positive and direct negative effects, respectively, on PTSD, depression, and anxiety. However, CT, independent from appraisals, had direct effects in producing the more complicated symptom clusters of cumulative trauma disorders.

Posttraumatic stress in aging World War II survivors after a fireworks disaster: A controlled prospective study

Little is known about the effects of cumulative trauma and whether traumatized individuals are more vulnerable. In 2000, a fireworks disaster created the possibility to examine this issue among World War II survivors who were part of an ongoing longitudinal study. Between 1998 and 2000 posttraumatic stress increased in disaster exposed respondents as opposed to the control group. War-related reexperiencing and avoidance also increased. The strongest increase occurred in disaster-exposed respondents who had low levels of wartime stress and a slight decrease occurred in those who had high wartime exposure. This unique controlled observation suggests that disasters do increase the levels of posttraumatic stress, and that reactivation of previous traumatic events generally occurs. However, the vulnerability hypothesis was not supported.

Treatment for perinatal disturbance

The perinatal period of transition to parenthood is one of heightened passions, which revive the expectant and new parents' own early experiences, and particularly unresolved emotional issues. For many deprived parents close contact with an infant reactivates old grievances at this time of vulnerability, which may manifest in syndromes of self-pity or in fury and vengefulness over past humiliations. Unprocessed dissatisfactions tend to erupt in disruptive or repetitious behaviours, which inevitably affect the baby in their care. In addition, childbearing in societies undergoing transition, like South Africa, may be fraught with extra stresses. These include socio-economic disadvantages and social adversity arising from geographical relocation and breakdown of traditional patterns, and psychological distress due to past or current experiences of physical or emotional trauma and neglect and relationship difficulties which tend to be exacerbated in times of rapid cultural change in the absence of a wider supportive network. It is argued that, in societies with scarce resources, the mental health focus must be on prevention, detection of high-risk groups and early intervention. Two tables are presented — of risk indicators and treatment guidelines, which may be applied during the perinatal period to minimise postnatal disturbance. Health workers with minimal training can be effective in screening and in some cases, delivering prophylactic or postnatal care to people at potential risk. Offering such help may enable resilient people in a state of crisis or transition to marshal their own resources. For others longer-term professional help may be required to shift the chronic effects of cumulative trauma by reworking emotional predicaments in a caring and safe environment.

The relationship between mothering in infancy, childhood experience and adult mental health

This longitudinal study has followed seventy‐six individuals from birth to age 30 using films of the mother‐child interaction, psychoanalytically informed interviews of parents and children, and psycho diagnostic testing to assess how the quality of mothering a child receives in the first year of life contributes to his/her subsequent emotional well‐being. The thirty‐year follow‐up of the now adult participants found that those who had received more effective care in infancy in terms of maternal empathy, consistency, control, thoughtfulness, affection and management of aggression had higher‐level psychological defence mechanisms as adults than children receiving less effective nurturing‐suggesting a process in which the children internalised their mothers' own defence mechanisms. Other measures at 30 years (Global Functioning, Erikson psychosocial attainment, mental representation of security of attachment to parents and presence or absence of a psychiatric diagnosis) did not achieve statistical significance. On the other hand, trauma after infancy and before age 18 provided the strongest correlation with adult outcome: consistent with the theory of the effect of cumulative trauma on psychic functioning, children experiencing two or more adverse circumstances had significantly lower levels of global functioning as adults than those spared multiple traumas. With case examples, the findings illustrate how the effect of pre‐verbal experience attenuates over time, and how later influences overlie early life in the course of psychological structuralisation.

A study of histological effects of cumulative trauma to tissues inside the carpal tunnel

A study of histological effects of cumulative trauma to tissues inside the carpal tunnel