Emotional Abuse Research Articles

Network analysis of childhood maltreatment and internet addiction in adolescents with major depressive disorder.

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is closely linked to internet addiction (IA), especially in adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Previous studies have shown that adolescents who experience CM are more likely to develop IA and other psychological problems. This study aims to explore the complex relationship between CM and IA through network analysis, particularly identifying the core symptoms and bridge symptoms to better understand the development of IA in these adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted in seven hospitals in Anhui Province, China, involving 332 adolescents diagnosed with MDD using DSM-5 criteria. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire - Short Form (CTQ-SF) and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) were used to assess CM and IA symptoms, respectively. Gender-based network analysis was also performed. Network analysis constructed a CM-IA network and identified core and bridge symptoms. "Depress/moody/nervous being offline", "Request an extension for longer time", "Sleep loss due to late-night logins", and "emotional abuse" emerged as central symptoms within the CM-IA network. Additionally, "emotional abuse", "sexual abuse", and "complaints about online time" were identified as key bridge symptoms linking CM and IA. These symptoms demonstrated significant connectivity, underscoring their critical role in linking CM and IA. The findings highlight the complex relationship between CM and IA in adolescents with MDD. Specific symptoms, such as emotional abuse and online-related symptoms, play important roles in understanding and intervening in adolescent IA. Future interventions should target these core and bridge symptoms for more effective prevention and treatment.

Relative-to-resident abuse in Norwegian nursing homes: a cross-sectional exploratory study.

In community settings, relatives often provide care to their older family members, which is sometimes perceived as a high burden, overwhelming and stressful, contributing to an increased risk of elder abuse. In most countries, relatives have no legal obligation to provide care when family members are admitted to nursing homes; nevertheless, studies have shown that relatives continue to provide emotional, instrumental, and personal care after admission, often related to the understaffing and high workload of nursing staff. Despite the growing interest in elder abuse in nursing homes, most studies have concentrated on the abuse perpetrated by nursing staff or co-residents, but few studies have explored the abuse that relatives may perpetrate. This study was a cross-sectional survey of 3,693 nursing staff members recruited from 100 nursing homes in Norway, to examine the extent of relative-to-resident abuse in Norwegian nursing homes, as observed by nursing staff. The findings indicate that 45.6% of the nursing staff had observed one or more episodes of relative-to-resident abuse during the past year. Among the subtypes of abuse, 44.8% of the nursing staff had observed psychological abuse, 8.4% had observed physical abuse, 2.7% had observed financial/material abuse, and 0.7% had observed sexual abuse at least once during the past year. This is the first large study exploring the extent of relative-to-resident abuse in nursing homes, which is a phenomenon that is significantly less addressed than abuse committed by staff and co-residents. The findings in our study illustrate that abuse committed by relatives needs more awareness and attention to improve the well-being of nursing home residents. Further research is recommended to enhance our understanding of such abuse and should include other approaches measuring the proportion of relative-to-resident abuse, as relying solely on staff observations is insufficient for determining the prevalence in this case. Future studies should also examine the cumulative impact of victimization in nursing homes and should include an analysis of how cases of abuse are reported and handled.

LGBTQ+ Health Inequities in a Rural, Conservative Context: Alabama Compared with Other Southern States.

There are no statewide statistics regarding the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) Alabamians. To fill this gap, we used data collected by the Southern Equality Research and Policy Center to compare Alabama with other southern US states regarding the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ people. We tested for unadjusted differences between Alabama and other southern states using χ2 tests for dichotomous outcomes and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test for ordinal outcomes. Multivariate logistic models predicted dichotomous outcomes from an Alabama indicator, a continuous rurality variable, and a racial and ethnic minority indicator to control for differences in rurality and racial and ethnic composition; multivariate linear regression was used to approximate the point estimate of adjusted differences. Alabama and other southern states had statistically similar and high levels of abuse, harassment, and poor mental and physical health. Alabamians lived in ZIP codes with somewhat higher rural-urban commuting area code rurality scores (AL 1.76; South 1.70; P = 0.036, where 1 is the most urban category). More than one-fourth of Alabama respondents reported experiencing self-harming behaviors; one-third reported suicidal ideation (33.1%); more than half reported anxiety disorders (57.6%); more than two-thirds reported being depressed (69.2%); and 25% to 75% experienced or feared emotional and physical abuse because of their identity. Multivariate adjusted results were generally similar to unadjusted results. Alabama LGBTQ+ populations, who live in more rural settings than in most prior studies, experience markedly poor outcomes.

First Report on Cationic Triphenylphosphonium Compounds as Mitochondriotropic H3R Ligands with Antioxidant Properties

Neurodegenerative diseases are a major public health problem due to the aging population and multifaceted pathology; therefore, the search for new therapeutic alternatives is of the utmost importance. In this sense, a series of six 1-(3-phenoxypropyl)piperidines alkyl-linked to a triphenylphosphonium cation derivative were synthesized as H3R ligands with antioxidant properties to regulate excessive mitochondrial oxidative stress and contribute to potential new therapeutic approaches for neurodegenerative diseases. Radioligand displacement studies revealed high affinity for H3R with Ki values in the low to moderate two-digit nanomolar range for all compounds. Compound 6e showed the highest affinity (Ki H3R = 14.1 nM), comparable to that of pitolisant. Antioxidative effects were evaluated as radical-scavenging properties using the ORAC assay, in which all derivatives showed low to moderate activity. On the other hand, cytotoxic effects in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were investigated using the colorimetric alamar blue assay, which revealed significant effects on cell viability with an unequivocally structure–toxicity relationship. Finally, docking and molecular simulation studies were used to determine the H3R binding form, which will allow us to further modify the compounds to establish a robust structure-activity relationship and find a lead compound with therapeutic utility in neurodegenerative diseases.

아동기 대인 간 외상경험이 성인의 외상 후 성장에 미치는 영향

Objectives This study was to determine the effect of interpersonal trauma experience in childhood on post-traumatic growth in adults. Methods 266 adult men and women aged 20 to 59 in Korea were surveyed and analyzed through an Internet questionnaire. The research tool was the Korean version of childhood trauma. It was a questionnaire (Eun-jung Kim, Jin-sook Kim, 2010) and a post-traumatic growth scale (Si-hyung Kim et al., 2020). For the data, skewness and kurtosis were analyzed using the SPSS 22.0 statistical program to confirm whether the assumption of normality was satisfied, and correlation analysis and t-test for differences between major variables, One-way analysis of variance and hierarchical regression analysis were performed. Results First, as a result of verifying the difference in post-traumatic growth according to the background variable, men were significantly higher than women in all post-traumatic growth according to gender. According to marital status, married people were significantly higher than unmarried. Depending on the age, those in their 50s were significantly higher than those in their 40s, 30s, and 20s. In addition, the difference in overall post-traumatic growth was significant according to the type of interpersonal trauma experience in childhood, sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, double abuse, and emotional abuse appeared in order. In addition, there was no difference in the factors of trauma perpetrator between trauma period, caregiver, and childhood interpersonal relations. Second, as a result of the correlation analysis of the main variables, it was found that there was no significant correlation between the entire childhood trauma and the entire post-traumatic growth. However, among the sub-factors, emotional neglect and post-traumatic growth were negatively correlated, and sexual abuse and physical abuse were positively correlated with post-traumatic growth. In other words, the higher the emotional neglect, the lower the post-traumatic growth, and the higher the sexual and physical abuse, the higher the post-traumatic growth. Third, it was found that interpersonal trauma experience in childhood had a significant effect on post-traumatic growth. Emotional abuse during childhood trauma was static and emotional neglect was negative. It was found to have an effect. In other words, the higher the emotional abuse among childhood trauma experiences, the more post-traumatic growth. It can be interpreted that the higher the emotional neglect, the lower the likelihood of post-traumatic growth. Conclusions The results suggest that lowering emotional neglect is effective to increase post-traumatic growth.

Happiness Therapy and Emotion Regulation for Early Married Couples Facing Emotional Abuse in the Marelan Area

ABSTRACT Conflicts were Indonesia's most common causes of divorce in 2023, accounting for 251,828 instances, or 61.67% of total divorce cases. Emotional abuse is a significant problem that can affect any relationship, even young married. A research analysis discovered that counseling and therapies were beneficial in mitigating the detrimental impacts of emotional abuse. The aim of the study is happiness therapy and emotion regulation for early marriage couples. This study was a pre-experimental approach. The study's statistical population consisted of 8 couples selected as a sample by purposive and voluntary sampling. Then, the happiness therapy and emotional regulation therapy protocol by Seligman. The researcher implemented the therapy in three sessions of 60-90 minutes, Then, the approaches were performed in pairs for happiness therapy and emotional regulation therapy for each couple with a month follow-up. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews. The study's findings suggest that, on a qualitative level, the informants' pre-therapy emotions were melancholy because of the emotionally abusive home environments they frequently experienced. Several informants felt disheartened and helpless to change their circumstances. Behavioral improvements were noted concerning happiness and emotional regulation. These included modifications to behaviors related to relying on calmness, communicating happiness without expressing emotion, and viewing happiness as a marriage obligation. This study can conclude that as couples learn to navigate their relationship dynamics with empathy and understanding, create a resilient partnership capable of weathering challenges without resorting to harmful behaviors. By prioritizing happiness therapy principles, couples can cultivate a harmonious union characterized by mutual respect and love.

Emotional awareness, child maltreatment and child exposed to intimate partner violence: A systematic review of their relationship with symptoms and protective factors

AbstractThis systematic review studies the emotional awareness (EA) in children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) and other child maltreatment (CM), and their relationship with externalizing and internalizing symptoms and protective factors. The search was performed using the PubMed, PsycINFO and Google Scholar databases. The search was based on scientific studies using the follow terms: (“emotional awareness” OR “emotional intelligence”) AND (child OR adolescent OR children OR teenager) AND (abuse OR neglect OR maltreatment OR “presence of domestic violence” OR “domestic violence” OR “intimate partner violence”). Seventeen empirical studies were included, presenting a low risk of bias (82%). Four studies have explored the relationship between EA and exposition to IPV, four with sexual abuse, five with neglect, five with psychological abuse and three with physical abuse. A total of 13 articles have assessed the relationship between EA and externalizing and internalizing symptoms: three with suicidal ideation (SI), three with post‐traumatic stress symptoms (PTSD), two focused on addictions, three on affective symptoms, one with total externalizing symptoms, one with borderline personality disorder (BDP), one with non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI) and one with disordered eating behaviours and attitudes (DEBA). Studies show that abused children have lower EA and that the lower EA, the greater the presence of symptoms. A total of 10 articles have assessed the relationship between EA and protective factors such as mental health in parents, six with coping skills, one with self‐stem and one with quality of life. The main results suggest that EA could be a mediator between children exposed to IPV and other CM and internalizing and externalizing symptoms as well as protective factors.

Exploring the use of Language in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Focus on Social Class and Patriarchal Mindset of Victorian England

Tess of the d’Urbervilles written by Thomas Hardy explores the complicated social structure and patriarchal injustice existing during the Victorian era. In this novel, Hardy uses refined and colloquial language for characters belonging to different classes in order to portray social differences and highlight power and position.Tess, being a girl from lower class was a subject of exploitation and received physical and mental abuse from Alec, Angel and overall, the society. Alec often abused her verbally using words reflectinghis ownership over Tess while Angel and the society blamed her for her rape. This paper aims to examine the role of language in Tess of the d’Urbervilles that represents the deep-rooted domination based on gender and class. Through Hardy’s narrative style and variation in linguistics pattern themes of male dominance and abuse, possession, control, victim blaming, identity, social class. and the patriarchal mindset of the society has been explored. The findings are basedon the primary and secondary data collected from the text Tess of the d’Urbervilles and other journals, articles, research paper of various scholars respectively. Besides, it also focuses on the sympathetic narrative tone of the writer where he expressed his compassion and presented Tess as a tragic character to the readers, who had gone through all sorts of sufferings due to her gender and class. The paper also presents a connection between Tess and the women of all ages who have similar experience and how language has always been an instrument of oppression and control over women by men. Hardy’s use of language is a reflection of the social and gender oppression during the Victorian era and how words can be a way of humiliating women.

Mediation of DNA methylation (cg04622888 and cg05037505) in the association between childhood maltreatment and non-suicidal self-injury in early adolescents.

It is unclear whether DNA methylation underlies the association between childhood maltreatment (CM) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in early adolescents. We aim to explore the mediation of specific DNA methylation sites in the associations of CM and its subtypes with NSSI, following investigation on the association between specific DNA methylation sites and NSSI. A case-control study was conducted to examine 155 adolescents aged 12-14years who were identified to have engaged in NSSI and 201 controls. CM and its subtypes were evaluated by using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. The EPIC 850k Bead Chip was used to discover differential methylation sites (DMSs) in the peripheral blood between 10 NSSI cases and 10 controls. Targeted pyrosequencing was employed to detect the levels of specific DMSs among the total study population, which were selected based on bioinformatics analyses and literature review. We discovered 456 DMSs between NSSI cases and controls, 219 were hypermethylated and 237 were hypomethylated. After controlling for potential confounders, CM or its subtypes, and the methylation of cg04622888 and cg05037505 were all significantly associated with NSSI (all P < 0.05). The total association of CM and its subtypes with NSSI were all significantly (all P < 0.05), with the standardized coefficient (β) ranged from 0.12 for physical neglect to 0.24 for emotional neglect and CM. Significant indirect association of physical neglect with NSSI through methylation of cg04622888 was observed and the mediating proportion was 0.14 (95%CI 0.06-0.23). Significant indirect associations of emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect with NSSI through methylation of cg05037505 were also observed, and the mediating proportions were 0.09 (95%CI 0.04-0.14), 0.08 (95%CI, 0.03-0.14) and 0.19 (95%CI 0.07-0.32), respectively. Data of this study suggested thatmethylation of cg04622888 and cg05037505 were independently associated with NSSI among early adolescents, and they partially mediated the associations of emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and physical abuse with NSSI.

Heart Transplant Rejection in the Setting of Glyphosate Herbicide Exposure; A Case Report

Glyphosate is a common herbicide utilized worldwide with known exposure related toxicities. Numerous adverse effects related to glyphosate exposure have been documented, specifically in non-human models, however literature is lacking on cardiotoxic effects specific to heart transplant patients. Rejection is the most common post-transplant complication and the diagnosis of such is vital in order to guide immediate and appropriate treatment. In addition to the endomyocardial biopsy, noninvasive genetic testing can aid in rejection diagnosis and distinguish between cell-mediated and antibody-mediated rejection. We describe a case of glyphosate exposure in a post orthotopic heart transplant and the subsequent heart transplant rejection, patient’s clinical course, treatment, and follow up.

An Examination of Underlying Domains in Childhood Adversity: A Scoping Review of Studies Conducting Factor Analyses on Adverse Childhood Experiences

There is an abundance of research linking experiences of childhood adversity to negative physical and mental health outcomes. Areas that remain to be explored and expanded upon include the ideal set of events for inclusion in measures of childhood adversity and testing the models of risk (e.g., cumulative, specificity, dimensional). In the current paper, we performed a scoping review to develop a comprehensive list of studies that conducted factor analyses of childhood adversity measures. There were 89 articles that met the inclusion criteria; trends in the underlying factor structures are reported. Highly associated yet distinct constructs of adversity have demonstrated empirical utility in predicting outcomes in dozens of studies, with consensus that physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical and emotional neglect, and household dysfunction offer important predictive value to understanding developmental mechanisms of change. We endorse revisions to one commonly used scale that could offer researchers a consistent and psychometrically robust measure of adversity.

Peran Regulasi Emosi dalam Perilaku Mencari Bantuan pada Korban Kekerasan dalam Pacaran

The stage of early adulthood in human development is to establish romantic relationships with the opposite sex. Therefore, having a romantic relationship is important for individuals at that age. Out of these four types of violence, emotional violence is the one that cannot be seen in real life, and even the victims don't really feel that what they are experiencing is a form of emotional violence. In emotional violence, the perpetrator will play a role by manipulating the victim, so that the victim does not even realize what he is experiencing, but gradually the impact of the violence is felt in everyday life. Meanwhile, the position of victims who are manipulated and unaware of the violence they experience, makes them feel that their perception of the situation they are experiencing is unrealistic, victims usually do not recognize or recognize emotional violence, and they develop coping mechanisms such as denial and minimize the violence they experience. With this condition it is difficult for victims to seek help for what they are experiencing. There are predictors that can influence the behavior of seeking help, including the regulation of the victim's emotions, the intensity of the search for help itself, and so on. In order to seek help from a manipulative, emotionally abusive state, the victim must have trust in others. Conditions that are astonishing and difficult to understand and believe are like victims of natural emotional abuse, forcing them to only want to open up to people they truly trust.

&lt;b&gt;Normalización de la violencia en relaciones de pareja y su correlación con la impulsividad&lt;/b&gt;

The objective of this study is to investigate the normalization of violence in romantic relationships and its correlation with impulsivity in Costa Rica. The research project is based on a quantitative methodology, using the psychometric scale called Violence in Young Couples Relationships Questionnaire (VIREPA) and a standardized questionnaire that evaluates different aspects of violence in romantic relationships, along with the Brief-A impulsivity scale. The results show a significant correlation between the normalization of emotional abuse and other forms of violence in the relationship. It is important to highlight that no significant differences were found according to biological sex or age, but a significant relationship between impulsivity and the normalization of violence was evident. Therefore, it is suggested that there is a need to address individual and psychological aspects in interventions to prevent violence in romantic relationships.

Fractured identities and wounded memories in Indian comics on partition: a decolonial reading of frame and panel

ABSTRACT Within the liaison of decoloniality studies and comics studies, this paper investigates how the decolonial visual style in the comics anthology This Side That Side (Ghosh 2013) has been used to locate the traumatised past and violation of human rights due to the ‘b/ordering’ practices of partition of India . ‘The Taboo’ by Malini Gupta and Dyuti Mittal, ‘An Afterlife’ by Sanjoy Chakraborty, and ‘Making Faces’ by Orijit Sen cultivate the stories of the inhumane condition of the migrants and victims during and after the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh-Pakistan partition. These narratives exemplify decolonised counter comics narratives on collective and personal memories inflicted upon and against the dominant partition discourse. They help churn out the human stories of the interminable psychological violence of partition and post-partitioned reality.

Childhood emotional maltreatment affects depression of adolescents with mood disorders: the mediating role of functions of non-suicidal self-injury

BackgroundChildhood emotional maltreatment, non-suicidal self-injury and depression are prevalent among adolescents with mood disorders. While existing model indicated that childhood emotional maltreatment, functions of non-suicidal self-injury and depression are interrelated, not much is understood about the interplay of functions of non-suicidal self-injury in the relationship between childhood emotional maltreatment and depression. Thus, the goal of this research was to ascertain how functions of non-suicidal self-injury relate to childhood emotional maltreatment and depression.MethodsThe participants were adolescents with mood disorders from three hospitals in Sichuan Province, data was collected using self-administered questionnaires, including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Ottawa Self-injury Inventory-Functions, and Childhood Depression Inventory. SPSS26.0 software and PROCESS v3.3 model 4 were used for analysis.ResultsIn all, 235 adolescents (Mage=14.8, SD = 1.62) participated in the research. The functions of non-suicidal self-injury (r = 0.289, P < 0.01) and depression (r = 0.475, P < 0.01) were considerably positively connected with childhood emotional maltreatment, and the functions of non-suicidal self-injury were strongly positively correlated with depression (r = 0.364, P < 0.01). The direct impact of childhood emotional maltreatment on depression in adolescents was found to be significant (95% CI 0.434, 0.828) in the mediated effects model. Additionally, the indirect effect of childhood emotional maltreatment on depression through functions of non-suicidal self-injury was found to be significant (95% CI 0.055, 0.236), with a mediating effect value of 17.58%.ConclusionChildhood emotional maltreatment has a direct impact on depression, but it also has an indirect influence through mediation roles of functions of non-suicidal self-injury. Medical staff should take care of the mental health of adolescents hospitalized for mood disorders so that they can clarify the role of functions of NSSI in lowering depressive symptoms and improving quality of life and create more targeted and effective intervention plans.

A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Educational Programme on Knowledge and Attitude of Mothers Regarding Child abuse in Selected Areas at Melmaruvathur, Chengalpattu District

Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional maltreatment or neglect of a children. It occurs in all areas where the child interacts with in and around them. Children who experience child abuse more likely to become involved in criminal activity. In India knowledge of child abuse is poor and very low cases are reported. Aim: To assess the knowledge and attitude of mothers in and around Melmaruathur, Kancheepuram District. Materials &amp; Methods: Mothers were directed to fill out a Questionnaire to assess the knowledge and likert scale used to assess their attitude of child abuse. After that educational programme was conducted on prevention of child abuse. Responses were recorded &amp; analyzed. The findings of the present study revealed that in overall knowledge of mothers regarding child abuse 87% have inadequate, 13% have moderate adequate and none of them have adequate knowledge. When compare to the various types of child abuse, knowledge about sexual abuse was 53% and others less than 35%. In attitude of mothers 15% have good and 85% have fair and no one have got poor attitude. Ater the education 80 % mothers had adequate knowledge, 20% had moderately adequate knowledge. 85% had good attitude, 10% had fair attitude on child abuse and 5% had poor attitude. Conclusion: Mothers of selected area there have deficient knowledge on general information of child abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and have moderate knowledge on sexual abuse, impact of child abuse on life of children. Statistically there is no significant relationship between knowledge and attitude.

Uncertain reflective functioning, anxious attachment, and cumulative impact of early relational trauma as predictors of severity in borderline personality disorder

ABSTRACT Background: The mentalization model of borderline personality disorder (BPD) utilizes a developmental psychopathology lens, emphasizing an unstable or reduced capacity to mentalize—stemming from early attachment disruptions and relational trauma—as the core feature of BPD. While the empirical evidence for the proposed intersections between mentalizing, attachment, and trauma and the development and manifestations of borderline personality is still limited, this knowledge is essential for developing effective assessments and interventions. Aim: To examine mentalizing, attachment, and early relational trauma as predictors of the severity of symptoms in BPD. Materials and Methods: The sample included 60 individuals diagnosed with BPD, aged 18–45 years, recruited from inpatient and outpatient services in a tertiary care mental health center. Participants completed measures of mentalizing (Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and Reading the Mind in the Eyes test), attachment (Attachment Style Questionnaire), early relational trauma (Complex Trauma Questionnaire), and symptom severity (Borderline Symptom List). Results: The majority of the participants reported experiences of polyvictimization (93.3%) with the most common traumas being psychological abuse (93.3%), neglect (91.7%), and rejection (90.0%). Regression analyses revealed that uncertain reflective functioning, anxious attachment style, and the cumulative impact of trauma together predicted 53.1% of the variance in BPD symptom severity. Conclusion: Impaired mentalizing, characterized by inflexible understanding of mental states, is a critical target for therapeutic interventions in BPD. The significant role of anxious attachment and the necessity of assessing the perceived impact of traumatic experiences highlight the importance of trauma-informed and mentalization-based interventions for this vulnerable group.

CANNABIDIOL AS A FORM OF TREATMENT FOR PATIENTS WITH POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER FROM VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE – INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Introduction. Violence as a social and public health problem, with a particular focus on its consequences, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to the World Health Organization, violence encompasses the intentional use of physical force or power, threatening or harming individuals, groups or communities. Objective: To describe the effects of Cannabidiol on patients with Post-Traumatic Stress due to physical and psychological violence. Methodology: This is an observational and retrospective integrative systematic review, with the exclusion criteria: non-empirical articles, non-indexed publications. A total of 545 articles related to post-traumatic stress and cannabidiol were found and only 13 articles were selected to present the results of this study. Results and discussion: The endogenous endocannabinoid system plays a significant role in the processing and extinction of fear memory. Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of Cannabis sativa, has shown potential in the treatment of anxiety disorders, including PTSD. CBD interacts with the endocannabinoid system indirectly by increasing the availability of endocannabinoids such as anandamide, which act on CB1 receptors in the brain. This activation of the endocannabinoid system may help reduce the behavioral response to aversive memories and improve fear extinction. Final Thoughts: While early research on the effects of CBD on PTSD is promising, more studies are needed to determine its efficacy and safety, particularly in victims of violence. Sources also emphasize the need for greater awareness and accessibility of cannabinoid-based treatments for those who may benefit from them.

Three-dimensional trust: disentangling trust relations in the context of converted asylum seekers

ABSTRACT Forced migration always involves dramatic life changes, but with converted asylum seekers, these changes become especially devastating. Conversion entails building relationships with local religious groups while former social ties usually get severed. Typically, forced migrants seek support from friends, family and relatives. For converted asylum seekers, these bases of security often turn into sources of psychological violence and threats. We examine how converted asylum seekers and members of the congregations they join experience and make sense of trust. We have interviewed representatives of both groups to understand the role of trust in their relationships and in relation to other actors involved in the asylum process. Methodologically, we test Frederiksen’s distinction between three dimensions of trust (relations, objects and situations) on an empirical case and develop this analytical tool further. The findings emphasize the complex and dynamic role that proximity, affects and temporality play in relation to trust. Theoretically, we offer a definition of trust that emphasizes affects and ascribed moral agency instead of belief in the good will of another toward oneself.

In silico aquatic toxicity prediction of chemicals toward Daphnia magna and fathead minnow using Monte Carlo approaches

The fast-increasing use of chemicals led to large numbers of chemical compounds entering the aquatic environment, raising concerns about their potential effects on ecosystems. Therefore, assessment of the ecotoxicological features of organic compounds on aquatic organisms is very important. Daphnia magna and Fathead minnow are two aquatic species that are commonly tested as standard test organisms for aquatic risk assessment and are typically chosen as the biological model for the ecotoxicology investigations of chemical pollutants. Herein, global quantitative structure–toxicity relationship (QSTR) models have been developed to predict the toxicity (pEC(LC)50) of a large dataset comprising 2106 chemicals toward Daphnia magna and Fathead minnow. The optimal descriptor of correlation weights (DCWs) is calculated using the notation of simplified molecular input line entry system (SMILES) and is used to construct QSTR models. Three target functions, TF1, TF2, and TF3 are utilized to generate 12 QSTR models from four splits, and their statistical characteristics are also compared. The designed QSTR models are validated using both internal and external validation criteria and are found to be reliable, robust, and excellently predictive. Among the models, those generated using the TF3 demonstrate the best statistical quality with R 2 values ranging from 0.9467 to 0.9607, Q 2 values ranging from 0.9462 to 0.9603 and RMSE values ranging from 0.3764 to 0.4413 for the validation set. The applicability domain and the mechanistic interpretations of generated models were also discussed.