Frequency Of Traumatic Events Research Articles

Emotion dysregulation, dissociation and body dissatisfaction mediate the relationship between trauma exposure and ED symptoms

IntroductionThe current study tests the relationship between eating disorder (ED) symptoms and trauma exposure. The mechanisms via which trauma is related to ED symptoms have not been sufficiently examined. This study examines the complex role of dissociation and emotional dysregulation in the context of trauma, BMI, ED symptoms and body dissatisfaction (BD).ObjectivesWe hypothesized that dissociation and emotional dysregulation would mediate the relationship between trauma exposure and ED symptoms / BD. We further hypothesized that BMI would play a moderating role in this association.MethodsA community sample of 229 (16.2% male) participants, with a mean age of 29.08±10.68 reported online on traumatic events (Life Events Checklist), dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale – II), emotional dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale), ED symptoms (Eating Disorders Examination – Questionnaire) and BD (Figure Rating Scale).ResultsParticipants reported experiencing a mean of 2.87±2.27 traumatic events, with a relatively high percentage (˜86%) reporting at least one. The most commonly reported traumatic events were transportation accidents and physical assault. Although frequency of traumatic events did not directly predict ED symptoms, BMI, dissociation, emotional dysregulation and BD did. An SEM model showed that traumatic events predicted ED symptoms indirectly through dissociation, emotional dysregulation and BMI. Dissociation and emotional dysregulation predicted ED symptoms directly. BMI also moderated the association between traumatic events and both ED symptoms and BD.ConclusionsTherapists treating patients with high BMI or obesity should be aware of these relationships and investigate the possibility that trauma and/or PTSD may underlie the presenting disordered eating or eating disorder.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Eating for numbing: a community-based study of trauma exposure, emotion dysregulation, dissociation, body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms.

ObjectiveThe current study tests the relationship between eating disorder (ED) symptoms and trauma exposure. The mechanisms via which trauma is related to ED symptoms have not been sufficiently examined. This study examines the complex role of dissociation and emotional dysregulation in the context of trauma, BMI, ED symptoms and body dissatisfaction (BD). We hypothesized that dissociation and emotional dysregulation would mediate the relationship between trauma exposure and ED symptoms/BD. We further hypothesized that BMI would play a moderating role in this association.MethodA community sample of 229 (16.2% male) participants, with a mean age of 29.08 ± 10.68 reported online on traumatic events (Life Events Checklist), dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale-II), emotional dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale), ED symptoms (Eating Disorders Examination-Questionnaire) and BD (Figure Rating Scale).ResultsParticipants reported experiencing a mean of 2.87 ± 2.27 traumatic events, with a relatively high percentage (~86%) reporting at least one. The most commonly reported traumatic events were transportation accidents and physical assault. Although frequency of traumatic events did not directly predict ED symptoms, BMI, dissociation, emotional dysregulation and BD did. An SEM model showed that traumatic events predicted ED symptoms indirectly through dissociation, emotional dysregulation and BMI. Dissociation and emotional dysregulation predicted ED symptoms directly. BMI also moderated the association between traumatic events and both ED symptoms and BD.ConclusionsTherapists treating patients with high BMI or obesity should be aware of these relationships and investigate the possibility that trauma and/or PTSD may underlie the presenting disordered eating or eating disorder.

The Relationship Between the Types of Traumatic Events and Well-Being, Post-Traumatic Stress Levels and Gender Differences in Syrian Patients: A Cross-Sectional Controlled Study.

This study aims to compare the types and frequency of traumatic events in Syrian patients. Additionally, the study investigates the relationship between the types of traumatic events and post-traumatic stress and mental well-being based on gender differences among the Syrians. Sociodemographic form, the Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire, the WHO-5 Well Being Index, and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised were administered to the Syrian volunteers (n = 207) and a control group. The total number of traumatic experiences were higher in the patient (study) group and men compared to the healthy control group and women. The most significant predictors of the variables for the level of traumatic symptoms were total number of traumatic experiences and having lived in a war zone. Traumatic stress symptoms may be associated with the number and continuity of traumatic events. The number of traumatic events in Syrians could be higher in males. Mental well-being is more associated with daily stress factors than traumatic experiences. Therefore, post-migratory risk and protective factors need to be investigated to comprehend PTSD.

Factors Affecting Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in South Korean Trauma Nurses.

Trauma nurses are exposed to suffering, death and dying, and vicarious trauma, which may result in nurses experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study aims to investigate the extent of PTSD and the effect of the frequency of traumatic events, coping strategies, and social support on PTSD in South Korean trauma nurses. A cross-sectional study was conducted. Participants were 145 trauma nurses recruited from 6 regional trauma centers in Korea. The data were collected through convenience sampling using self-administered questionnaires, including the Korean version of Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R-K), the frequency of traumatic events, coping strategies, and social support. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t test, analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression. The prevalence of IES-R-K score of 25 or more (indicating a high risk of PTSD) was detected in 57.2% of the trauma nurses. The frequency of traumatic events, work at traumatic emergency units, dysfunctional coping, emotion-focused coping, and social support were found to be significantly associated with PTSD. Therefore, it is necessary to develop PTSD management programs in order to provide effective coping strategies and social support for relieving PTSD symptoms. At the same time, efforts to improve the working environment are needed.

Trauma Exposure Among Women in the Pacific Rim.

Healthcare professionals who provide services in the immediate or long-term aftermath of traumatic events need to understand the nature and frequency of traumatic events in the lives of women. However, research on trauma exposure in women has only recently begun to assess events other than intimate partner and sexual violence and has not supported direct statistical comparison of cross-national and cross-cultural data. The purpose of this descriptive, correlational study was to describe and compare trauma exposure prevalence and type in community-based samples of women in the United States, Colombia, and Hong Kong. Women were recruited through posted notices at community health sites, snowball sampling, and online advertisements (N = 576). The Life Stressor Checklist-Revised (total score range 0 to 30) was used to determine the type and prevalence of trauma exposure. Data were collected by native language members of the research team. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographic characteristics and trauma exposure for the total sample and each community-based sample (location). Between-location differences were tested using Fisher's exact tests for categorical measures and general linear models with pairwise a posteriori least squares t-test for continuous measures. Responses to open-ended questions were translated and categorized. Over 99% of women in the total sample reported at least one traumatic life event. The mean number of traumatic life events per participant was 7, ranging from 0 to 24. Although there was consistency in the most commonly reported trauma exposures across locations, the rates of specific events often differed. Historical, political, geographic, and cultural factors may explain differences in trauma exposure among women in the four locations studied. This study offers relevant knowledge for providers in diverse locations who provide services to women who have experienced traumatic events and provides evidence for the need for future research to further enhance knowledge of trauma exposure among women, and on the effects of trauma in women's lives.

Traumatic Events and Symptoms Among Mexican Deportees in a Border Community

ABSTRACTResearch on traumatic events experienced among Mexicans deported from the United States is scant. Using clinical interviews, this study assessed the frequency of traumatic events and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among 47 Mexican deportees in a U.S.-Mexico border community. The majority of participants (98%) reported having experienced one or more traumatic events (M = 9, SD = 5) and nearly half met DSM-IV-TR criteria for PTSD. Meeting criteria for PTSD was associated with a higher number of traumatic events. Results suggest that prevention, intervention, and policy efforts are necessary to improve the well-being of this understudied immigrant subgroup.

Trauma as a neglected etiological factor of mental disorders

Throughout the history of mental health care field, trauma was prescribed different and frequently opposing roles. In psychoanalysis, the attitude toward trauma was ambiguous: it was considered a crucial factor, but at the same time its role could happen to be minimized. In biological psychiatry, it is seen as a dominant cause of some disorders and completely irrelevant for the others. In this paper, two issues are discussed: frequency of traumatic events in general population and among persons with mental disorders; and hypothesized intrapsychic mechanisms that lead to detrimental consequences of trauma on mental health. It is advocated that prevention of early, especially attachment, trauma should be the focus of our work in dealing with mental disorders.

The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous as an Adjunctive Treatment for Trauma Survivors: An Experimental Approach

Background and Method: The consequences of surviving trauma are complex, making it difficult to formulate a recovery and treatment plan. The most common defense mechanism, and the toughest one to work through, is denial. Throughout human history, lack of knowledge and non-acceptance of the perpetrators misdeeds has placed the suffering of survivors behind an armored wall, perpetuating traumatic effects. No recovery can occur behind this wall of forced silence, ignorance and lack of helpful resources. Over the last two decades, research has revealed the frequency of traumatic events, and their injurious effects on a survivor?s psyche. Mental health professionals have come to understand the connections between unresolved trauma and serious psychological problems. The role of spirituality in trauma recovery is often misunderstood and subsequently minimized. Trauma survivors usually have a difficult time experiencing their vulnerability and the attending feelings of having once been profoundly helpless and alone. The process of unearthing one?s memories and re-experiencing anguish requires the help of skilled, knowledgeable and spiritually grounded professionals who have done healing work on themselves. Interest and research on the healing effects of applying spiritual tools to the multi-layered consequences of trauma survival - including emotional pain, and interpersonal difficulties - has burgeoned. This is a case report discussing the efficacy of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to address and heal the root causes and conditions of dysfunctional behaviors, lack of meaning in life, and persistent psychic pain. Results: The primary outcome measure was the client?s self-report on improved affect regulation, reduced depression, decrease in maladaptive behaviors, decreased sense of helplessness and hopelessness, increased sense of personal accountability, meaning and purpose in life, and greater ability to modulate arousal; both physical and emotional.

Eating Disorders, Trauma, PTSD, and Psychosocial Resources

The frequency of traumatic events and comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women with eating disorders (ED) was assessed. Also, patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) were compared; post-traumatic symptomatology and the role of psychosocial resources were analyzed. One hundred three ED patients (29.1±10.5 years) were studied through the use of standardized questionnaires. We found that 23.1% of AN and 25.5% of BN patients fulfilled the study definition for a current diagnosis of PTSD. Cumulative traumatization led to more severe symptomatology. Psychosocial resources were found to have strong associations with symptomatology. These findings provide additional support for the association between traumatization and ED. Clinical interventions for traumatized ED patients may benefit from a focus on post-traumatic stress symptomatology and personal resources.

What's Impeding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Prevention?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder caused by serious, often life-threatening traumatic events. Previously considered almost exclusively n the context of war-related traumatic stressors—which ave rightfully been in the forefront of public andmedical ttention in recent years, owing to the experiences of U.S. roops in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts—trauma is, in fact, more commonly experienced outside of military situations. Millions of individuals every year are exposed to life-threatening and life-altering events that put them at risk for mental disorders such as PTSD. These events include motor vehicle collisions, intimate partner violence and other physical or sexual assault, childhoodmaltreatment, natural disasters, and a myriad of other more rare (e.g., gun massacres) but no less unfortunate events. Reduction in incidence of traumatic events would, of course, constitute primary prevention for PTSD. For the most part, reducing the frequency of traumatic events in the general population falls to lawmakers and law enforcement, aided by the public health community (included among them, frequently, mental health experts). The mental health community has an opportunity to implement secondary prevention of PTSD by mitigating the risk of PTSD to people exposed to traumatic events. This is an unusual situation in which mental health practitioners find themselves, that is, positioned to prevent mental illness because the inciting event can be clearly identified. This is truly a unique characteristic of PTSD amongmental illnesses.Whereasmany othermental disorders are no doubt fed by experiential inputs and fueled by life stressors, PTSD cannot occur in the absence of trauma. We have here the chance to catch the traumatic spark before it burns and emotionally scars. This is the promise of the secondary prevention of PTSD. In their systematic review of interventions to prevent PTSD, Forneris et al. summarize the results of the report they prepared on this topic for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ; for the report in its

Trauma and PTSD rates in an irish psychiatric population: A comparison of native and immigrant samples.

Although Western mental health services are increasingly finding themselves concerned with assisting traumatized individuals migrating from other countries, trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are under-detected and undiagnosed in psychiatric populations. This study examined and compared rates of traumatic experiences, frequency of traumatic events, trauma symptomatology levels, rates of torture, rates of PTSD and chart documentation of trauma and PTSD between (a) Irish and migrant service-users and (b) forced migrant and voluntary migrant service-users in Dublin, Ireland. Data were gathered from 178 psychiatric outpatients attending using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire-Revised Cambodian Version and the SCID-I/P. A substantial number of service-users had experienced at least one lifetime trauma (71.3%), and a high percentage of both the Irish (47.4%) and migrant groups (70.3%) of service-users had experienced two or more events. Overall, analyses comparing rates between Irish, forced migrant and voluntary migrant service-users found that forced migrants displayed more traumatic life events, posttraumatic symptoms, and higher levels of PTSD than their voluntary migrant and Irish counterparts, with over 50% experiencing torture prior to arrival in Ireland. The lifetime rate of PTSD in the overall sample was 15.7% but only 53.57% of cases were documented in patient charts. The results of this study are informative about the nature and extent of the problem of trauma and PTSD among migrant mental health service users as well as highlighting the under-detected levels of trauma among native-born service users.

Quality and Use of Trauma Histories Obtained From Psychiatric Outpatients: A Ten-Year Follow-Up

In 1996 Eilenberg and colleagues reviewed 180 charts and reported that trauma histories were poorly documented at a general psychiatric clinic. This study is a ten-year replication of that work. A total of 107 randomly selected charts from the same clinic were reviewed for assessment of trauma history. The quality of the assessments was rated. Fifty-six percent of charts contained a thorough description of trauma severity, compared with 15% in the initial study. Documentation of posttraumatic symptoms improved significantly in all categories but remained low. Documentation of diagnostic formulations and treatment plans for patients with a trauma history was thorough in a small proportion of charts (14%), as was found in the initial study (9%). Although some improvements were found in recording trauma histories, eliciting such a history did not lead to thorough documentation of posttraumatic symptoms or to inclusion of the history in the diagnostic formulation or treatment plan.

Traumatic events and posttraumatic stress in cross‐cultural mission assignments

In addition to cross-cultural and environmental stressors, aid workers and missionaries are frequently exposed to trauma. We explored the frequency of traumatic events, their mental health impact, and factors associated with posttraumatic stress in two groups of missionaries, one representing a predominantly stable setting (Europe) and the other an unstable setting (West Africa). The 256 participants completed self-report measures assessing lifetime traumatic events, current posttraumatic stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, resilience, and functioning. The rate of traumatic events was significantly higher in the unstable setting. More-frequent traumatic events were associated with higher posttraumatic stress. Factors associated with the severity of posttraumatic stress were depression, functional impairment, subjective severity and number of traumatic events, and the level of resilience.

Unresolved trauma in spouses as a risk factor for myocardial infarction in men

This paper tests the hypothesis of a high frequency of traumatic events and high levels of alexithymia in wives of individuals with myocardial infarction (MI), assuming that this constellation may have led to choosing a husband with a Type A Behaviour Pattern (TABP)—characterized by irritability, hyper-competition, time urgency and denial of difficulties—which is known to represent an increased risk for MI and to reinforce this pattern. Twenty wives of patients with MI and 20 wives of patients with mild orthopaedic (Orth) problems were administered a Childhood Traumatic Events Scale (CTES) and the TAS-20. MI wives showed higher scores on the CTES than Orth wives; 10 MI wives as against three Orth ones reported a history of very severe childhood trauma. TAS 20 scores were higher in MI than in Orth wives.

Post-traumatic stress disorder in forensic inpatients

Given the high prevalence of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the general population, psychiatric patients and criminal offenders, this study investigated the frequency of traumatic events, PTSD and subsyndromal variants in forensic patients as well as associated psychopathological distress. A total of 53 patients (51 men; two women) with a mean age of 32.6 years (SD=9.0) were studied with a structured interview for the assessment of current and lifetime PTSD (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, CAPS) and a set of self-report measures on PTSD-related and dissociative symptoms as well as general psychopathology (MPSS; DES; SCL-90-R). We found that 64% of our study population reported at least one traumatic experience, and 56% of these met lifetime criteria for PTSD. At the time of assessment nine patients suffered from PTSD. Lifetime prevalence for partial PTSD was 23%, and for current conditions 15%, respectively. Patients with additional PTSD showed significantly more subjective distress on self-report questionnaires than those with a subsyndromal variant and those without PTSD. Our finding that exposure to traumatic events and associated full and partial PTSD are frequently found in forensic patients has important implications for the assessment, therapy and rehabilitative programmes.