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This chapter defines and describes trauma, adversity and trauma-informed practice. We explore how trauma impacts children and young people and how this may influence their engagement with education. A summary about how a student may present when experiencing trauma is provided. As teachers often hear about and address trauma and adversity faced by children, the concepts of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma are also briefly explored. The chapter ends with examples of ways in which teachers can create trauma-informed classrooms and support and promote trauma-informed policies and practices in schools.
This chapter provides a review for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It starts by presenting the epidemiological data as well as the risk factors in the development of PTSD. It then defines the diagnosis of PTSD, by using both DSM-5 and ICD-11 criteria, and provides a clinical approach on how to clarify differential diagnoses and comorbidities. It then reviews the pathophysiology and pathogenesis of PTSD by looking at neuroanatomic, neuroendocrine, neurochemical, and genetic changes in brain neural networks. It concludes by presenting the current evidence-based options for the treatment and management of PTSD that include psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy.
One of the most relevant risk factors for suicide is the presence of previous attempts. The symptomatic profile of people who reattempt suicide deserves attention. Network analysis is a promising tool to study this field.
Objective
To analyze the symptomatic network of patients who have attempted suicide recently and compare networks of people with several attempts and people with just one at baseline.
Methods
1043 adult participants from the Spanish cohort “SURVIVE” were part of this study. Participants were classified into two groups: single attempt group (n = 390) and reattempt group (n = 653). Different network analyses were carried out to study the relationships between suicidal ideation, behavior, psychiatric symptoms, diagnoses, childhood trauma, and impulsivity. A general network and one for each subgroup were estimated.
Results
People with several suicide attempts at baseline scored significantly higher across all clinical scales. The symptomatic networks were equivalent in both groups of patients (p > .05). Although there were no overall differences between the networks, some nodes were more relevant according to group belonging.
Conclusions
People with a history of previous attempts have greater psychiatric symptom severity but the relationships between risk factors show the same structure when compared with the single attempt group. All risk factors deserve attention regardless of the number of attempts, but assessments can be adjusted to better monitor the occurrence of reattempts.
This paper examines the materialization of trauma as both a narrative and embodied phenomenon in Hassan Bani Ameri's 2006 novel, Gonjeshkha Behesht ra Mifahmand, using contemporary narrative and trauma theory. The postmodernist narrative, told from the perspective of a photojournalist, reconstructs events surrounding the death of a celebrated Iran-Iraq War commander. I argue that traumatic truths resist full integration into conventional frameworks of understanding, evident in the novel's non-linear, fragmented narrative and its shift from visual realism to confessional surrealism in an ending that challenges traditional storytelling and historical documentation. By vividly simulating the sensory processing of traumatic memories, the novel emphasizes the material reality of trauma that demands to be seen, heard, and physically felt, thus negating celebratory institutional narratives around the culture of war and martyrdom.
To assess the post-earthquake trauma and hopelessness levels of nursing students due to the earthquakes that occurred on February 6, 2023.
Methods
This study was conducted between April and May 2023 in the Nursing Department in a province located in Southeastern Türkiye using the face-to-face interview technique. The study was completed with 276 students in line with the power analysis. The data were collected using a questionnaire, the Scale that Determines the Level of Post-Earthquake Trauma (SDLPET), and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS).
Results
The mean SDLPET and BHS scores of the students were 55.45±13.58 and 9.38±4.53, respectively. Some 12.3% of the nursing students lost their friends due to the earthquake, 80.4% did not receive any earthquake training, 46% needed psychological support, 48.6% needed financial support, 49.6% needed social support, 37% had sleep problems, 72.8% experienced hopelessness, and the quality of life of 67.8% of the students was negatively affected due to the hopelessness they experienced.
Conclusions
It was found that the level of post-earthquake trauma and hopelessness of the students was moderate, and a positive and significant correlation was found between trauma and hopelessness scores.
International Relations (IR) accounts of the post–World War II international order often claim that after its defeat, Germany ‘transformed’ from a fascist, militaristic, and racist state into a model liberal democracy, facilitating its full rehabilitation and integration into Western institutions and alliances. Yet a closer examination of post-war German domestic and international politics challenges this account: denazification was widely reviled, survivors faced ongoing persecution, and a retooled antisemitism asserted itself in international diplomacy. This article offers the concept of adaptive politics to capture how collectively held beliefs, identities, policies, and conduct travel across incisive political events like defeat in war, occupation, and genocide, outlining the complex concurrence of continuity, adaptation, and change in their aftermath. Drawing on theories of sovereignty, biopolitics, racism, and antisemitism, the article tracks the unfolding of West German adaptive politics in the immediate post-war period, focusing on efforts to exonerate perpetrators, modifications of racism and antisemitism, and the role of the trauma diagnosis in debilitating survivors. By sanitising this history, IR scholarship positions the post-war liberal international order, and the international politics of the West more broadly, as entirely disconnected from the disordered conduct associated with Nazism.
Fifteen years ago, we published an article in Social Science and Medicine seeking to resolve the contentious debate between advocates of two very different frameworks for understanding and addressing the mental health needs of conflict-affected populations. The two approaches, which we labelled trauma-focused and psychosocial, reflect deeply held beliefs about the causes and nature of distress in war-affected communities. Drawing on the burgeoning literature on armed conflict and mental health, the reports of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) staff in the field, and on research on the psychology and psychophysiology of stress, we proposed an integrative model that drew on the strengths of both frameworks and underscored their essential complementarity. Our model includes two primary pathways by which armed conflict impacts mental health: directly, through exposure to war-related violence and loss, and indirectly, through the harsh conditions of everyday life caused or exacerbated by armed conflict. The mediated model we proposed draws attention to the effects of stressors both past (prior exposure to war-related violence and loss) and present (ongoing conflict, daily stressors), at all levels of the social ecology; for that reason, we have termed it an ecological model for understanding the mental health needs of conflict-affected populations.
Methods
In the ensuing 15 years, the model has been rigorously tested in diverse populations and has found robust support. In this paper, we first summarize the development and key tenets of the model and briefly review recent empirical support for it. We then discuss the implications of an ecological framework for interventions aimed at strengthening mental health in conflict-affected populations.
Results
We present preliminary evidence suggesting there has been a gradual shift towards more ecological (i.e., multilevel, multimodal) programming in MHPSS interventions, along the lines suggested by our model as well as other conceptually related frameworks, particularly public health.
Conclusions
We reflect on several gaps in the model, most notably the absence of adverse childhood experiences. We suggest the importance of examining early adversity as both a direct influence on mental health and as a potential moderator of the impact of potentially traumatic war-related experiences of violence and loss.
Migraine and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are both twice as common in women as men. Cross-sectional studies have shown associations between migraine and several psychiatric conditions, including PTSD. PTSD is disproportionally common among patients in headache clinics, and individuals with migraine and PTSD report greater disability from migraines and more frequent medication use. To further clarify the nature of the relationship between PTSD and migraine, we conducted bidirectional analyses of the association between (1) migraine and incident PTSD and (2) PTSD and incident migraine.
Methods
We used longitudinal data from 1989–2020 among the 33,327 Nurses’ Health Study II respondents to the 2018 stress questionnaire. We used log-binomial models to estimate the relative risk of developing PTSD among women with migraine and the relative risk of developing migraine among individuals with PTSD, trauma-exposed individuals without PTSD, and individuals unexposed to trauma, adjusting for race, education, marital status, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, alcohol intake, smoking, and body mass index.
Results
Overall, 48% of respondents reported ever experiencing migraine, 82% reported experiencing trauma and 9% met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 criteria for PTSD. Of those reporting migraine and trauma, 67% reported trauma before migraine onset, 2% reported trauma and migraine onset in the same year and 31% reported trauma after migraine onset. We found that migraine was associated with incident PTSD (adjusted relative risk [RR]: 1.26, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14–1.39). PTSD, but not trauma without PTSD, was associated with incident migraine (adjusted RR: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.14–1.27). Findings were consistently stronger in both directions among those experiencing migraine with aura.
Conclusions
Our study provides further evidence that migraine and PTSD are strongly comorbid and found associations of similar magnitude between migraine and incident PTSD and PTSD and incident migraine.
Providing Mental Health and Psychosocial Support interventions (MHPSS) for forcibly displaced Ukrainians in Central and Eastern Europe poses numerous challenges due to various socio-cultural and infrastructural factors. This qualitative study explored implementation barriers reported by service providers of in-person and digital MHPSS for Ukrainian refugees displaced to Poland, Romania and Slovakia due to the war. In addition, the study aimed to generate recommendations to overcome these barriers. Semi-structured Free List and Key Informant interviews were conducted using the Design, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation protocol with 18 and 13 service providers, respectively. For in-person interventions, barriers included stigma, language, shortage of MHPSS providers, lack of financial aid and general lack of trust among refugees. For digital MHPSS, barriers included generational obstacles, lack of therapeutic relationships, trust issues, and lack of awareness. Recommendations included advancing public health strategies, organizational interventions, building technical literacy and support, enhancing the credibility of digital interventions and incorporating MHPSS into usual practice. By implementing the recommendations proposed in this study, policymakers, organizations and service providers can work towards enhancing the delivery of MHPSS and addressing the mental health needs of Ukrainian refugees in host countries, such as Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Located on the North Anatolian Fault, Constantinople was frequently shaken by earthquakes over the course of its history. This book discusses religious responses to these events between the fourth and the tenth century AD. The church in Constantinople commemorated several earthquakes that struck the city, prescribing an elaborate liturgical rite celebrated annually for each occasion. These rituals were means by which city-dwellers created meaning from disaster and renegotiated their relationships to God and the land around them in the face of its most destabilizing ecological characteristic: seismicity. Mark Roosien argues that ritual and theological responses to earthquakes shaped Byzantine conceptions of God and the environment and transformed Constantinople's self-understanding as the capital of the oikoumene and center of divine action in history. The book enhances our understanding of Byzantine Christian religion and culture, and provides a new, interdisciplinary framework for understanding Byzantine views of the natural world.
Past experiences of mental healthcare which have been perceived as harmful can present significant barriers to accessing treatment again. This article draws upon research and lived experience to consider the ways in which conceptualisations of ‘trauma-informed care’ may better incorporate the role of iatrogenic harm, thus providing more acceptable and equitable treatment for those who have previously found treatment to be harmful. A more restorative approach is offered, founded in shared responsibility and compassionate relationships, to help minimise harms and create a more healing system for patients and clinicians alike.
Ezra–Nehemiah presents multiple theological themes in accord with the complex experiences of repatriation. This chapter is divided under several subheadings, such as trauma, power, identity, hope, prayer, and others, as accessible topical introductions to the theological contributions of Ezra–Nehemiah.
Well documented in the lives of people with intellectual disability are greatly increased occurrences of adverse life events, exposure to abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), neglect, exploitation, victimisation, and hate crimes, in contrast to the general population. Shockingly, abuse has been reported in developmental service systems at even higher rates and in specialist treatment units such as Winterbourne View and Whorlton Hall. People with intellectual disability also experience trauma associated with physical restraint to manage behaviours that challenge services, negative consequences of psychotropic medication, greater exposure to painful medical procedures consequent to health issues, particularly in early and late stages of life and greater than typical discontinuities in care related to hospital admissions, respite, and staff turnover in group and institutional living. The evidence to support medication treatment in post-traumatic stress disorder is reviewed.
There is a strong link between trauma exposure and serious mental health conditions (SMHCs), such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The majority of research in the field has focused on childhood trauma as a risk factor for developing an SMHC and on samples from high-income countries. There is less research on having an SMHC as a risk factor for exposure to traumatic events, and particularly on populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
This scoping review aimed to synthesize the nature and extent of research on traumatic events that adults with SMHCs face in LMICs. It was conducted across five databases: PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science Core Collection and Africa-Wide Information/NiPad in December 2023 and by hand searching citation lists.
Findings
The database search returned 4,111 articles. After removing duplicates and following a rigorous screening process, 51 articles met criteria for inclusion. There was one case study, one mixed methods study, 12 qualitative studies and 37 quantitative studies. Ten countries were represented, with the most studies from India (n = 19), Ethiopia (n = 9) and China (n = 6). Schizophrenia was the most studied type of SMHC. Of the trauma exposures, more than 76% were on interpersonal violence, such as sexual and physical violence. Of the studies on interpersonal violence, more than 23% were on physical restraint (e.g., shackling) in the community or in hospital settings. There were no studies on man-made or natural disasters.
Implications
Much of our data in this population are informed by a small subset of countries and by certain types of interpersonal violence. Future research should aim to expand to additional countries in LMICs. Additional qualitative research would likely identify and contextualize other trauma types among adults with SMHCs in LMICs.
Limited data exists on the role of attachment in influencing the development and wellbeing of refugee children. Herein we describe patterning and correlates of attachment in an Australian sample of adolescent Tamil refugees. Sixty-eight adolescents, aged 10–18, were assessed for trauma exposure, mental health problems and pattern of attachment. Attachment representations were assessed by discourse analysis of structured attachment interviews. Mothers of the adolescents were assessed for post-migration family stressors, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using self-report measures. Inhbitory A and A+ patterns of attachment predominated. Attachment insecurity was associated with child trauma exposure (β = .417), post-migration family stressors (β = .297) and maternal PTSD (β = .409). Path modeling demonstrated that attachment insecurity mediated associations of child trauma exposure, family stressors and maternal PTSD with child mental health problems, the model yielding adequate fit (Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = .957; standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = .066; R2 .449). Our cross-sectional findings suggest that compromised attachment security is one potential mechanism by which the adverse effects of refugee family trauma and adversity are transmitted to children. Resettlement policy and psychosocial services should aim to preserve and/or reestablish attachment security in child-caregiver relationships through policy that reduces family stressors and interventions that bolster parental mental health and caregiver sensitivity.
This chapter locates a shift in beginning in the seventh century in which the power to halt quakes began to move away from collective repentance and toward saintly intercession. First, it examines the seventh-century Life of St. Symeon Stylites the Younger, a Syrian pillar saint with ties to Constantinople. It focuses in particular on hymns recorded in the Life for earthquakes that purportedly caused them to cease when sung by the holy man. The chapter shows how seventh-century Byzantines could have constructed the role of the saintly intercessor when faced with natural disasters. Next, it analyzes changes in Constantinople’s earthquake commemoration rite in the eighth century, specifically the introduction of the Theotokos as the city’s chief protection against earthquakes. Eighth-century liturgical editors borrowed from the rites commemorating the enemy invasions of Constantinople in 623, 626, and 717–18, in which the Theotokos was remembered to play a prominent role in protecting the city. It shows how the earthquake commemoration liturgy no longer saw earthquakes as divine judgment against the sin of the city, but as outside threats to the city for which powerful heavenly intercessions were needed.
This chapter discusses how East Roman emperors utilized the theology of divine chastisement, particularly the efficacy accorded to repentance, to their advantage. During the earthquakes of 396 and 447, Emperors Arcadius and Theodosius II, respectively, led mass penitential rituals and performed public acts of humility until the quakes ceased. Such public acts of repentance posed a political risk to emperors since they could appear to confirm their responsibility for the disasters. However, imperial supporters like bishop Severian of Gabala and historian Socrates Scholasticus highlighted the quakes’ cessation rather than their cause, and located the power to halt quakes in the humble prayers of the rulers themselves rather than worshippers as a collective. In the aftermath of these earthquakes, authorities framed Roman emperors as “New Davids” – effective spiritual intercessors as well as military protectors – inaugurating a biblical typology for emperors that would continue throughout Byzantine history.
This chapter concerns Constantinople’s liturgical rite for the commemoration of earthquakes in its original, fifth-century form. Celebrated each year on the anniversary of certain quakes, worshippers ritually reenacted local earthquakes, performing a long, penitential procession that retraced the earthquake evacuation route. The rite was structured by biblical readings, hymns, and prayers that framed the people of Constantinople as the sinful, biblical people of God. In ritual performance, worshippers could envision quakes as manifestations of divine wrath against the sins of the city, and their collective repentance as effective in restoring stability to the earth and balance within the human-environment-divine relationship. After discussing the liturgical rite, its performance, and theology, the chapter locates the origins of its theology of divine chastisement in local homilies and ritual responses to earlier quakes, focusing in particular on the archbishop John Chrysostom’s Constantinopolitan homilies on earthquakes from the early fifth century.
This chapter examines the ways in which Byzantine political and ecclesiastical elites recast local earthquakes as divine blessing upon the city rather than manifestations of divine wrath as evinced in the liturgical commemoration rite. First, it examines a legend that arose in connection with the earthquake of 438 that framed it as a divine theophany. Following the divisive Council of Chalcedon in 451, ecclesiastical authorities in Constantinople’s imperial church used the legend against their miaphysite opponents to cast the quake as divine approval of Constantinople’s political and theological claims. Next, it turns to the earthquake of 557, which partially destroyed the famous church of Hagia Sophia built by the emperor Justinian in 537. Justinian rebuilt the church in 562 and held an elaborate ceremony complete with a liturgy of rededication for the church. This ceremony and its liturgy eschewed the theology of divine chastisement and framed the quake as a temporary setback, an opportunity for Justinian to display his prowess over the destructive effects of nature by rebuilding the church to be more magnificent than before.