Elmar Brähler

• Prof. Dr. rer biol hum habil
• Professor Emeritus at Leipzig University

Background: Multiple studies have shown a link between cumulative adverse experiences in childhood and a wide variety of psychosocial problems in later life. There have not been any pertinent representative studies of the German population until now. The goal of this study is to determine the frequency of adverse childhood experiences (ACE), the e...

Background The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is a popular tool for assessing depressive symptoms in both general and clinical populations. The present study used a large representative sample of the German adult population to confirm desired psychometric functioning and to provide updated population norms. Methods The following psychometric...

Die Wahlerfolge der rechts-autoritären AfD lenken die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit wieder verstärkt auf die ostdeutschen Bundesländer: Wieso die hohen Zustimmungswerte für eine Partei, die vor allem mit Ressentiments Wahlkampf macht? Aus dem Blick gerät dabei oft, dass auch in den westdeutschen Bundesländern die Demokratie unter Druck steht. Im vorli...

Background Child maltreatment (CM) can have devastating and potentially lifelong effects for those affected and is a major contributor to mental health problems. To tackle public health problems it is crucial to have reliable data on CM. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and predictors of CM in a nationwide sample of the German popu...

Background Previous research has identified growing up in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) as a protective factor against childhood abuse and neglect compared to growing up in the former Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). This study investigates whether these differences persist among individuals born after German reunification, providin...

The Profile of Mood States (POMS) is one of the most widely applied scales for measuring mood. Considering the advantages of short scales and increased international research, the aim of the present study was to evaluate cross-culturally the psychometric properties of a short 16-item version of the POMS. Data were collected from 15,693 participants...

Zusammenfassung In der COVID-19-Pandemie kam es zu einem Anstieg gesundheitsbezogener Ängste und Stressbelastungen. Es werden die Ausprägung COVID-19-spezifischer Ängste und Zusammenhänge zum Befinden untersucht. 2021 wurden N=321 Teilnehmende der Sächsischen Längsschnittstudie mittels Fragebogen zu COVID-19-spezifischen Ängsten, Lebenszufriedenhei...

Background: Alcohol abuse and suicide are significant public health problems. Specifically, more than three million people die each year from alcohol abuse and 700,000 from suicide. Research indicates that alcohol abuse is associated with suicidality, and that there are significant gender differences in both. By means of a large representative pop...

Most studies devoted to the psychological consequences of congenital heart disease (CHD) have dealt with consequences in terms of psychopathology. We wanted to consider two specific aspects of body image, “Rejecting body evaluation” and “Vital body dynamics”. We examined body image of CHD-patients as compared with the general population, the stabil...

Despite the growing body of research on self-report measures of personality functioning, tests ofmeasurement invariance in immigrant samples have mostly been neglected. The present studyaimed to fill this gap by testing measurement invariance of the OPD-Structure Questionnaire(OPD-SQS) across immigrant groups and evaluating the association between...

Background: Understanding the trajectories of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) across different age cohorts and sociodemographic factors is crucial for pro moting healthy aging. This study aims to examine the course of physical and mental HRQoL over a 16-year period in a nationwide sample of the German population. Methods: Data from the Germa...

Purpose Healthcare professionals (HCPs) play a critical role in suicide prevention and clinical guidelines recommend inquiring about suicidality as part of medical history and diagnosis. Emerging evidence indicates a lack of implementation of such policies in clinical practice. However, to date, no comprehensive mixed-methods study has examined thi...

Importance Associations between child maltreatment (CM) and health have been studied broadly, but most studies focus on multiplicity (number of experienced subtypes of CM). Studies assessing multiple CM characteristics are scarce, partly due to methodological challenges, and were mostly conducted in patient samples. Objective To determine the impo...

Perceived stress is a construct of crucial importance to health and well-being, necessitating the provision of economic, psychometrically sound instruments to assess it in routine clinical practice and large-scale survey studies. Two competing short versions of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), each consisting of four items, have been proposed. In...

Increased risk of suicide attempts among descendants of displaced persons – An epidemiological contribution to the study of transgenerational consequences of flight experiences Objectives: The far-reaching consequences of flight and displacement are well documented. Such traumatic experiences may affect the next generation. However, mental health...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated measures have had a significant impact on millions of individuals and families worldwide. Although cross-sectional studies have demonstrated the considerable burden placed on families during the pandemic, trends over different phases of the pandemic including later stages and using population-base...

Objective Individuals affected by cancer have an elevated risk of experiencing suicidal crises. Aligning established suicide theories with social‐cognitive theories, perceived control and related constructs emerge as potential protective factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in cancer patients. As perceived control is potentially modifiable,...

Die Wahlerfolge der rechts-autoritären AfD lenken die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit wieder verstärkt auf die ostdeutschen Bundesländer: Wieso die hohen Zustimmungswerte für eine Partei, die vor allem mit Ressentiments Wahlkampf macht? Aus dem Blick gerät dabei oft, dass auch in den westdeutschen Bundesländern die Demokratie unter Druck steht. Im vorli...

Die Wahlerfolge der rechts-autoritären AfD lenken die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit wieder verstärkt auf die ostdeutschen Bundesländer: Wieso die hohen Zustimmungswerte für eine Partei, die vor allem mit Ressentiments Wahlkampf macht? Aus dem Blick gerät dabei oft, dass auch in den westdeutschen Bundesländern die Demokratie unter Druck steht. Im vorli...

Die Wahlerfolge der rechts-autoritären AfD lenken die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit wieder verstärkt auf die ostdeutschen Bundesländer: Wieso die hohen Zustimmungswerte für eine Partei, die vor allem mit Ressentiments Wahlkampf macht? Aus dem Blick gerät dabei oft, dass auch in den westdeutschen Bundesländern die Demokratie unter Druck steht. Im vorl...

Zusammenfassung Gewalterfahrungen in der Kindheit erhöhen das Risiko für psychische Probleme im Erwachsenenalter. Wie die frühe institutionelle Betreuung in der DDR mit Gewalterfahrungen assoziiert ist und Angst und Depression im Erwachsenenalter beeinflussen, ist wenig erforscht. Die Stichprobe umfasst N=1743 Personen, geboren in der DDR (1949–198...

Background: Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) has been recognized as a mental health disorder and was added to the ICD-11 and DSM-5-TR. Despite the same name, both versions of PGD differ in symptom count, content, and diagnostic algorithm. A single instrument to screen for both PGD diagnoses is critical for bereavement research and care. The study aim...

The strong migration of former East German residents to the western part of Germany opens a unique way to study the impact of migration modifying gender-related attitudes towards division of labor. While in West Germany more traditional gender attitudes have been prevailing for decades, the East pursued more progressive attitudes regarding the home...

Background Psychological resilience is known as a protective factor against mental health disorders for which valid measures are indispensable. The present work aims to evaluate the Resilience Scale-5 (RS-5) psychometrically, and provide norm values. Methods Data from the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS), encompassing 7,496 participants aged 25 to 86,...

Background Headache disorders are among the most prevalent neurological disorders worldwide. However, whether groups differing in socioeconomic position (SEP) are disproportionately affected by headache disorders has not yet been adequately clarified. Our aim was to analyse (1) the headache prevalence by socioeconomic position (SEP) and (2) the att...

Background The concept of psychological resilience has spurred extensive research across various fields, with the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) emerging as a concise tool to measure an individual’s ability to rebound from stress. It has been translated into multiple languages, including German, but the validation of the German version occurred prior...

Health anxiety is an intricate part of illness anxiety and somatic symptom disorder. Based on convenience samples, two out of three available studies indicate that it is a dimensional rather than a categorical construct. Using two representative datasets, this study investigates whether previous results can be clarified. Conventional taxometric ana...

Background The Brief Resilience Coping Scale (BRCS) is a brief instrument suitable for epidemiological studies. The aims of this paper were to analyze changes in BRCS depending on time, sex, age group, relationship status, as well as risk of poverty, to test the psychometric properties including test-retest reliability and measurement invariance, a...

The early 2020s witnessed an unprecedented overlap of multiple global crises. This longitudinal study examined the compounded effects of multiple intersecting global crises on mental health outcomes in a representative cohort of East German adults. We investigated how perceived threats (PT) from climate change (PT-CLC), COVID-19 (PT-COV), the Russi...

Zusammenfassung Ziel der Studie Es sollten Unterschiede in der tatsächlichen Inanspruchnahme von Psychotherapie in den Neuen Bundesländern zu DDR-Zeiten und danach untersucht werden. Darüber hinaus sollten unter Beachtung von Generationeneffekten (Geburt vor / nach dem 01.01.1980) heutige Differenzen in der Inanspruchnahmebereitschaft sowie Barrier...

Background The Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) is a self-report questionnaire with three subscales, somatisation, anxiety, and depression, based on longer measures of distress. The present study proposes a shorter, nine-item version (BSI-9) of the BSI-18 as a brief screening tool for distress. Methods Confirmatory factor analyses and reliabili...

Background The pandemic and the associated consequences have been ongoing stressors with severe impacts on the population and particularly on families. Research focusing on groups dealing well with the challenges of the pandemic is scarce. Here, we aimed to identify groups being well-adjusted during the pandemic and associated predictors. Methods...

Objective The purpose of the present study was to develop and validate a brief screening instrument (F-SozU K-3) for the measurement of perceived social support in large scale surveys by shortening a well-established German questionnaire (F-SozU K-6). Method First, a brief three-item version of the F-SozU was developed based on a representative sa...

Background Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), an eating disorder not associated with weight and shape concerns, results in nutrient or energy deficiencies related with further health consequences and a pronounced need for specialized treatment. These interventions need to be tailored to individual health behavior. However, research...

There are considerable interindividual differences in adjustment processes in satisfaction with life (SWL) following critical life events. We focused on a collective life event, the German reunification in 1989/90, which prompted fundamental changes in the political, social, and economic conditions to investigate the heterogeneity of short- and lon...

Objective: The Eating Disorder Examination–Questionnaire (EDE–Q) is one of the most widely used self-report measures for the assessment of eating disorder (ED) symptomatology. However, proposed cut-off scores that may indicate the presence of an ED have been heterogeneous. Therefore, the current study derived cut-off scores from two large samples:...

Zusammenfassung Viele ehemalige politische Gefangene der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (DDR) leiden langfristig an psychischen Folgen der politischen Inhaftierung. In Studien aus anderen Kontexten hat sich gezeigt, dass die Offenlegung („disclosure“) traumatischer Erfahrungen im näheren sozialen Umfeld positive Auswirkungen auf die Verringerung...

Die politische Landschaft in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ist seit einigen Jahren durch Parteineu-gründungen und eine hohe Volatilität bei den Wählern geprägt. Auf Bundesebene und über verschie-dene Bundesländer hinweg sind hier vor allem zwei Parteien für die Wissenschaft von Interesse: Zum einen die bereits 2013 gegründete Alternative für Deuts...

Background: Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) is a severely debilitating recently added symptom cluster in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). So far, only limited information on mental health treatment-uptake and -satisfaction of individuals with CPTSD is available. The aim of this study is to investigate these aspe...

Zusammenfassung Die Qualität der Paarbeziehung eines Menschen spielt eine zentrale Rolle für das individuelle Wohlbefinden sowie die seelische und körperliche Gesundheit. Trotz ihrer großen Bedeutung gibt es nur wenige ultrakurze, d. h. anwendungsökonomische Selbstbeurteilungsverfahren. Die aus vier Items bestehende Kurzversion der Dyadic Adjustmen...

This study aimed to develop a German version of the revised Pre-loss Grief Questionnaire (PG-12-R) and examine its factor structure, reliability and validity. The PG-12-R was assessed in a representative German sample (N = 2,515). Of these, 362 (14.4%) reported to have a loved one suffering from an incurable disease and 352 provided full data sets....

Background: The COVID-19 outbreak necessitated physical distancing, as part of secondary prevention, at a personal and professional level. Working from home (WFH) became increasingly important. In this study, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on physical and mental health is investigated, compared with pre-pandemic data, and with emp...

Basic life values are known to be stable over a lifetime and are predictive of a wide range of attitudes and behaviors. However, they may fluctuate in response to environmental changes or challenges. This study, conducted in two large representative cohorts, aimed to investigate whether basic life values across different age groups remained consist...

Hintergrund: Die Antwort auf die Frage, ob eine externe frühkindliche Betreuung zu psychischen Belastungssymptomen im Erwachsenenalter führen kann, ist in Deutschland umstritten. Insbesondere in der ehemaligen DDR wurden Kinder bereits früh außerfamiliär untergebracht. Methode: Um den Zusammenhang zwischen frühkindlicher außerfamiliärer Betreuung...

Even 30 years after the reunification of the two German states, skepticism often occurs in public discussions about the formation of a common democratic culture in Germany. The success of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in East Germany and an East–West gap in terms of right-wing violence seem to support these opinions. T...

Ever since its original conception, authoritarianism is claimed to be the driving force behind various forms of anti-modern attitudes and politics. While current research mainly focuses on three dimensions of right-wing authoritarianism, namely authoritarian aggression, authoritarian submission, and conventionalism, the original F-scale was more ex...

Background Social relations are crucial for maintaining physical and mental health across the life span. As social roles, networks and needs change with age a valid assessment of social support in older adults and age-specific norms are necessary. The present work aims to [1) assess the level of social support in individuals > 60 years of the gener...

Objective Diabetes in the course of lifetime is related to a higher risk for mental disorders. The present study addresses the comparison of individuals with diabetes and non-diabetic individuals in depressive symptoms, generalized anxiety symptoms, and health-related quality of life. Furthermore, mediator effect of BMI and health-related quality o...

Psychological variables substantially shape the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours (STBs). However, it is unclear to what extent they are considered in individuals with cancer. We synthesized the quantitative research landscape concerning psychological risk/protective factors of STBs in the (psycho-) oncological context. This pre-registered...

Background Socio-political change often leads to disruptions in employment and social networks, which can exacerbate health issues and increase mortality rates. These consequences are likely observed as an increase in negative life events (NLEs), serving as indicators of the broader social and health impacts. Using the German reunification in 1989/...

Background Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) was recently included as a disorder in the ICD-11 and DSM-5-TR. Although both classification systems use the same name, the criteria content, and diagnostic approach vary. This study aimed to estimate the respective prevalence of PGDICD-11 and PGDDSM-5-TR and examine the diagnostic agreement while varying t...

The COVID-19 pandemic plunged economies into recessions and advancements in artificial intelligence create widespread automation of job tasks. A debate around how to address these challenges has moved the introduction of a universal basic income (UBI) center stage. However, existing UBI research mainly focuses on economic aspects and normative argu...

Background: Research on abusive head trauma (AHT) is usually research on clinically identified cases, while population-based studies, having the potential to identify cases of shaking that did not end with hospital admission, are missing to date. Objective: Thus, we aimed to assess the prevalence of AHT and associated risk factors in a representati...

Objective: The Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q) is one of the most widely used self-report measures for the assessment of eating disorder (ED) symptomatology. However, proposed cutoff scores that may indicate the presence of an ED have been heterogeneous. Therefore, the current study derived cutoff scores from two large samples: on...

Background With the purpose of improving healthcare, past research has examined the link between healthcare utilization and attachment. It is suggested that an individual’s attachment style influences both the quality of their patient-physician relationship and healthcare utilization patterns. Nevertheless, most studies concentrate on the individua...

Die Wahlerfolge der rechts-autoritären AfD lenken die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit wieder verstärkt auf die ostdeutschen Bundesländer: Wieso die hohen Zustimmungswerte für eine Partei, die vor allem mit Ressentiments Wahlkampf macht? Aus dem Blick gerät dabei oft, dass auch in den westdeutschen Bundesländern die Demokratie unter Druck steht. Im vorli...

Die Wahlerfolge der rechts-autoritären AfD lenken die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit wieder verstärkt auf die ostdeutschen Bundesländer: Wieso die hohen Zustimmungswerte für eine Partei, die vor allem mit Ressentiments Wahlkampf macht? Aus dem Blick gerät dabei oft, dass auch in den westdeutschen Bundesländern die Demokratie unter Druck steht. Im vorli...

Background: The German translation of the Self-Consciousness Scale (Fragebogen zur Erfassung dispositionaler Selbstaufmerksamkeit [SAM]) is a 27-item, self-report measure assessing self-consciousness. Previous studies showed a poor fit for the proposed two-factor structure, assessing private and public self-consciousness. We assessed the factor str...

Background The effort-reward imbalance at work model offers a theoretical and analytical framework to estimate the subjective perception of work-related stress. High demands and low rewards in return can harm mental and physical health, well-being, and life satisfaction. According to the theory, overcommitment partially explains why employees endu...

Background Oral health-related self-efficacy (OH-SE) is pivotal for oral health and is associated with other oral-health related variables, such as dental fear and anxiety (DF/A) and dental hygiene behaviors (DHB). This study attempts to analyze associations between OH-SE and oral healthrelated variables in a German population to extend previous re...

Previous studies on self-rated health and mortality have usually not differentiated between physical and mental health, respectively have not considered physical diseases. This study aims to determine self-rated physical and mental health from middle to old age, examine associations with mortality adjusted for objective risk factors and assess effe...

Zusammenfassung Ziel der Studie Es wird untersucht, ob es im Zuge der Coronapandemie zu einer Erhöhung der psychischen Belastung in einer deutschen Normalbevölkerungsstichprobe Erwachsener aus Sachsen kommt. Methodik 2017/2018 und 2022 wurden je N=289 Teilnehmer:innen (54,7% weiblich) der Sächsischen Längsschnittstudie mittels Fragebögen (PHQ-4, SS...

Introduction Stigma is an individual and societal process based on attitudes and power and relates to both spatial disparities and social distinction. In this study, we examined differences in desire for social distance toward people with mental illness within a city using social and spatial information. Methods ANOVAs and Scheffé post-hoc tests a...

This study aims to explore the relationship between authoritarianism, conspiracy mentality and right-wing extremist attitudes based on a secondary analysis of a German representative survey and using structural equation modeling (N = 2.312). Empirical research has revived the concept of authoritarianism to explain right-wing extremist attitudes – a...

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate (1) the type and frequency of reported life events of the East German population related to the German reunification and (2) their associations with psychosocial health. Methods: Data of 2247 participants of the Study of Health in Pomerania was used.These qualitative responses were analyse...

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are highly prevalent and increase the risk for long-term adverse health outcomes. Next to well-known ACE-associated risks for morbidity, recent research is increasingly invested in exploring pathways towards health, overall functioning, and partaking in society following early adversity. Objectives...

Background Mental resources such as optimism and social support are important to face different stressors. The aim of this study is to identify groups in the population that are similar in terms of their mental resources. Methods For this purpose, a randomly selected general population community sample was used, representative for the city of Leip...

The irritation scale is a widely used and reliable self-report scale for measuring cognitive and emotional strain related to the work environment. It extends existing measures by providing a sensitive assessment for pre-clinical stress at work. Existing normative data are based on convenience samples and are therefore not representative. This study...

Background The assessment of personality functioning is at the core of current dimensional models of personality disorders. A variety of measures from different clinical and research traditions aim to assess basic psychological capacities regarding the self and others. While some instruments have shown reliability and validity in clinical or other...

Purpose In this cross-sectional survey, we assessed the prevalence of dry eye disease (DED) in a representative German population sample. In addition, we examined the associations between DED, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and level of fatigue. Finally, we further validated the German version of the Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryn...