European Journal of Psychotraumatology

Background: Underreporting is a potential source of bias. In the context of the military, the underreporting of mental health symptoms may be linked to inconsistent performance of mental health measures and heterogenous prevalence estimates. However, few studies systematically investigated the potential underreporting of mental health symptoms among military personnel. Objective: The present study systematically examined indications of underreporting symptoms of trauma-related and comorbid mental health disorders among three comparative samples of the Austrian Armed Forces. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, 576 active duty soldiers, 764 conscripts, and 164 civilian employees rated the perceived sensitivity of items of the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ), several other commonly used self-report mental health measures, and the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire/short version as a control measure. Applying multilevel modelling, we tested whether mental health measures/ITQ symptom clusters would be perceived as more sensitive than the control measure across the three samples and investigated associations of demographic variables, trust in data protection and item order with sensitivity ratings. Results: All mental health measures, particularly items on alcohol use disorder and the negative self-concept symptom cluster of complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), distrust in data protection and item order predicted perceived sensitivity. Active duty soldiers gave similar ratings as civilian employees while recruits rated the sensitivity of mental health measures lower than civilian employees in relation to the control measure. Conclusions: Although it remains unclear whether this is a specific characteristic of military populations, we conclude that military personnel may underreport mental health disorders, particularly symptoms of alcohol use disorder and CPTSD. In order to avoid biased results, strategies to reduce underreporting may be of particular importance in the field of military mental health. Further research is needed on predictors and effects of sensitivity perceptions as well as corresponding differences between civilian and military populations.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common sequela of rape. Dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a core regulator of the stress response, has been implicated in the aetiology and chronicity of PTSD. FK506 binding protein (FKBP5) is a co-chaperone and functional regulator of the glucocorticoid receptor and the HPA-axis.Objective: This study investigated main and interaction effects of childhood trauma and the FKBP5 rs1360780 genotype on longitudinal FKBP5 intron 7 methylation, and whether change in FKBP5 methylation over time was associated with PTSD symptom severity over time.Method: Women who experienced rape (n = 96) were recruited from post-rape care services in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Total PTSD symptom scores, derived from the Davidson Trauma Scale, were assessed at baseline, 3-months and 6-months post-rape. Methylation levels at five FKBP5 intron 7 CpG sites were determined using EpiTYPER Sequenom MassArray technology. Genotyping of rs1360980 was completed using the Agena MassArray genotyping system. Mixed linear regression models were used to analyse the data.Results: The interaction between rs1360780 genotype and childhood trauma was a significant predictor of FKBP5 methylation over time. There was a significant positive correlation between childhood trauma and methylation levels in participants with the CT and TT genotypes, while there was a significant negative correlation between childhood trauma and methylation in CC genotype carriers. FKBP5 methylation was not a predictor of PTSD scores over time.Conclusion: This is the first study to investigate longitudinal change in FKBP5 methylation in a demographically homogenous same-trauma sample. The findings implicate childhood trauma and FKBP5 rs1360980 genotype in the trajectory of FKBP5 methylation levels in the aftermath of rape. Further research is needed to investigate the longitudinal role of FKBP5 intron 7 methylation in relation to PTSD symptom trajectories post-rape.

Objective: We aimed to elucidate the temporal relationship between perceived social support, emotional self-disclosure and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in children. Method: The super typhoon Lekima occurred on August 10, 2019, in China. Three waves of self-report questionnaires were administered to children at 3 months (T1, N = 1596), 15 months (T2, N = 1072), and 27 months (T3, N = 483) following the typhoon. The main analysis was based on data from 351 children who completed all three waves of assessment. We constructed cross-lagged panel models to examine temporal associations between perceived social support, emotional self-disclosure, and posttraumatic growth. Results: Controlling for trauma exposure, age, gender, monthly income of family and parental marital status, results revealed that perceived social support at T1 and T2 was longitudinally related to emotional self-disclosure and PTG at T2 and T3. Emotional self-disclosure at T1 and T2 positively connected with perceived social support and PTG at T2 and T3. However, PTG did not relate to subsequent perceived social support. Mediation analyses revealed that perceived social support at T1 was positively connected with PTG at T3 through emotional self-disclosure at T2, and that emotional self-disclosure at T1 was positively connected with PTG at T3 through perceived social support at T2. Conclusions: These results demonstrated that perceived social support and emotional self-disclosure were mutually reinforcing, and both could facilitate PTG among children. Post-disaster psychological interventions could work to enrich social support resources and encourage children’s emotional self-disclosure.

Background: The International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) is a validated measure supporting the diagnosis of ICD-11 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (cPTSD). It has been translated into 35 languages, also into Polish. Due to the lack of information in the literature about its validation, new Polish version has been re-adapted and validated in the Polish non-clinical and clinical samples of the present study.Objective: The study aimed (1) to adapt the ITQ for use in Polish, (2) to assess the construct validity of ICD-11 PTSD and cPTSD in the Polish ITQ, and (3) to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the Polish ITQ.Method: The study sample comprised of 452 adults: a non-clinical sample, N = 314, (completed the online version of the questionnaire) and a clinical sample, N = 138, (used a pen-and-paper version). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Latent Class Analysis (LCA) were performed to assess the structure of the ITQ.Results: The CFA supported a two-factor second-order model as the best fit to the data. All factor loadings were statistically significant and reached a satisfactory level. Cronbach's alpha for ITQ (α = 0.887), PTSD (α = 0.810) and DSO (α = 0.875) were good. The LPA revealed four classes: (1) a cPTSD class with elevated PTSD and DSO symptoms; (2) a PTSD class with elevated PTSD symptoms but low scores on the DSO; (3) a DSO class with elevated DSO symptoms but low scores on the PTSD; and (4) a low symptom class with low scores on all symptoms.Conclusion: The amended Polish ITQ has good internal consistency and psychometric properties. The model is well fitted to differentiating PTSD/cPTSD diagnoses according to ICD-11 and is a reliable measure of support for the making of a PTSD/cPTSD diagnosis in the conduct of clinical interview.

Background: Immigrant and refugee adolescents often face traumatic experiences and are vulnerable to mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. Yet, they also show remarkable resilience in the face of these stressors. Research is still scarce on how both mental health problems and resilience dynamically interplay in immigrant and refugee adolescents' development.Objective: We aimed to identify latent profiles of immigrant and refugee adolescents' wellbeing, consisting of externalizing and internalizing symptoms, PTSD (intrusion and avoidance), and resilience, and analyse the demographic and contextual determinants of these profiles.Method: We employed cross-sectional survey data from the RefugeesWellSchool project for 1607 immigrant and refugee adolescents (mean age 15.3 years, SD 2.15, 42.3% girls) from six European countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Latent profile analysis and three-step procedure with BCH weights were used to identify the wellbeing profiles and their determinants.Results: Results identified four adolescent wellbeing profiles: (1) Low symptoms (49.7%, n = 791); (2) High symptoms with intrusion (10.6%, n = 169); (3) Moderate symptoms (26.9%, n = 428); and (4) Resilient avoidant (12.8%, n = 203). Older participants, those with refugee background, shorter residence in the host country, more experiences of daily stressors or discrimination, or low family support were less likely to belong to the Low symptoms or Resilient avoidant groups (p ≤ .001).Conclusions: The profiles reflected distinct differentiation of intrusive and avoidance dimensions of the PTSD-symptoms. Intrusion clustered with high level of other mental health problems, whereas avoidance co-occurred with high resilience. Experiences related to immigration, stressors, and family support were crucial determinants of the wellbeing profile membership. Future interventions should utilize information obtained by person-centered studies to create better targeted and tailored support for immigrant and refugee adolescents.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) can have lasting psychological and cognitive effects, potentially impairing facial emotion recognition (FER). This study examines the accuracy of FER among IPV survivors compared to individuals without IPV experience within the Korean baby boomer generation, aged 60-69, exploring the relationship between IPV, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and FER abilities. Objective: To assess whether IPV impacts FER accuracy and intensity and to investigate whether symptoms of PTSD moderate this relationship. Method: The study included 80 participants, with 31 % identified as IPV survivors. A self-administered survey collected information on lifetime experiences of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well as assessments for PTSD symptoms. Participants completed the Korean Montreal Cognitive Assessment (K-MOCA) and performed 70 FER tasks to evaluate accuracy and intensity of facial emotions. Logistic regressions were used to analyse the relationship between IPV, PTSD symptoms, and FER performance. Results: IPV survivors demonstrated 0.64 times lower accuracy in recognizing overall facial emotions, including anger, sadness, surprise, and neutral expressions Additionally, IPV survivors exhibited significantly lower intensity scores for overall facial expressions. Significant interaction terms between IPV and PTSD symptoms indicate that PTSD symptoms moderate the effect of IPV on the FER, as well as neutral and sad facial expressions. Conclusions: IPV can disrupt one's ability to recognize facial emotions, and PTSD symptoms may moderate this impairment. This highlights the potential benefits of assisting IPV survivors with emotion recognition as part of their recovery process, which could enhance both social connections and their safety. El impacto de la violencia de pareja en el reconocimiento de emociones faciales en la generación baby boomer de Corea Antecedentes: La violencia de pareja (IPV, por sus siglas en inglés) puede tener efectos psicológicos y cognitivos duraderos, potencialmente afectando el reconocimiento de emociones faciales (FER por sus siglas en ingles). Este estudio examina la precisión del FER entre sobrevivientes de IPV en comparación con individuos sin experiencia de IPV dentro de la generación baby boomer de Corea, de entre 60 y 69 años, con el objetivo de explorar la relación entre IPV, síntomas de trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT) y las habilidades de FER. Objetivo: Evaluar si la IPV impacta la precisión e intensidad del FER e investigar si los síntomas de TEPT moderan esta relación. Método: El estudio incluyó 80 participantes, de los cuales el 31% fueron identificados como sobrevivientes de IPV y el 69% como individuos sin experiencia de IPV. Se utilizó una encuesta autoadministrada para recopilar información sobre experiencias de abuso físico, emocional y sexual a lo largo de la vida, así como evaluaciones de síntomas de TEPT. Los participantes completaron la Evaluación Cognitiva de Montreal en su versión coreana (K-MOCA) y realizaron 70 tareas de FER para evaluar la precisión e intensidad de las emociones faciales. Se emplearon regresiones logísticas para analizar la relación entre IPV, síntomas de TEPT y el desempeño en FER. ARTICLE HISTORY