[Aspects of Utilization of Psychotherapy in Germany in Times of the GDR and Later].

Objective The aim of the study was to examine real differences in the use of psychotherapy in the New Federal States during the GDR era and today. In addition, differences according to the willingness seeking psychotherapy as well as barriers in opinions and contact to the mentally ill between people from the New Federal States, the Old Federal States and people who moved from the New Federal States to the Old Federal States (internal migrants) should be recorded, taking into account generational effects (experience of the Cold War - birth before / after January 1, 1980). Methods To investigate these questions, the data from a representative survey in the New Federal States of N=2729 people as well as the data from a second online based survey of people from the New and Old Federal States as well as internal migrants with a total of N=4789 participants were evaluated.

Early Childhood Care in the Former East Germany and Mental Stress in Adulthood.

Background: It is still debated in Germany whether early childhood care outside the family might cause mental stress in adulthood. In the German Democratic Republic (GDR-the former East Germany before unification), children were often cared for outside the family from a very early age.

Methods: To determine the relation between early childhood care outside the family and mental stress in adulthood, we carried out a survey among 1575 persons who were born and socialized in the GDR.

['Against Nature'-On the social psychological dimension of the alliance between conspiracy beliefs and spirituality in COVID-19 protests. A case study].

In the light of increasingly loud and highly visible public protests against protective measures and policies against COVID-19, the concept of has recently gained a lot of attention. It is used to theoretically grasp the ideological glue of the heterogeneous milieu of protesters. The aim of this article is twofold.

Gender differences in the prevalence of mental distress in East and West Germany over time: a hierarchical age-period-cohort analysis, 2006-2021.

Purpose: Mental distress has become a major public health concern. Temporal trends in psychological distress are complex and depend on numerous factors. In this study, we examined age-period-cohort effects for mental distress including gender and German region over a 15 years' time span.

Mental health and life satisfaction in East and West Germany: Effects of generation and migration of citizens.

Objective: The reunification of Germany after the separation between 1949 and 1990 has offered a unique chance of studying the impact of socialization, political transformation, and migration on mental health. The purpose of this article was to compare mental distress, resources, and life satisfaction (1) between residents of East and West Germany and migrants who have fled from East to West Germany before reunification and (2) between three generations.

Methods: We assessed anxiety, depression, resilience, self-esteem, and life satisfaction, comparing groups based on their residency and migration, as well as three different birth cohorts.

[Associations of Internal Migration and Somatoform Symptoms, Depression, and Anxiety in a German Representative Sample].

Aim: The aim of the present study was to determine, if internal German migration was associated with mental distress, somatoform symptoms, depression, and anxiety.

Methods: Data from two representative studies from 2020 and 2021 were analysed (N=4922). Mental distress, including the dimensions somatoform symptoms, depression, and anxiety, was assessed with the short version of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18).

Changes in authoritarianism before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Comparisons of latent means across East and West Germany, gender, age, and education.

Modern theories of authoritarianism have stressed the importance of threat to the expression of authoritarian attitudes and intolerance. Arguably, authoritarian tendencies may have increased during COVID-19 pandemic, a major threat to life and security. One issue arising when comparing mean scores is that of measurement invariance.

[Psychological Distress in Former Eastern and Western States 30 Years After the Reunification].

Objective: Investigating the effects of internal migration on somatoform complaints (GBB-8) as well as psychological distress (PHQ-4; captures symptoms of anxiety and depression).

Methods: A representative sample from 2019 is used and divided into four groups (West, East, East-West, West-East). A variance analysis was conducted.

Detecting Authoritarianism Efficiently: Psychometric Properties of the Screening Instrument (A-US) in a German Representative Sample.

With right-wing-extremist and -populist parties and movements on the rise throughout the world, the concept of authoritarianism has proven to be particularly valuable to explain the psychological underpinnings of these tendencies. Even though many scales to measure the different dimensions of authoritarianism exist, no short screening instrument has been tested and validated on a large scale so far. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the screening instrument (A-US) in three representative German samples ( = 2,524, = 2,478, and = 2,495).