The Impact of Avoidant/Disengagement Coping and Social Support on the Mental Health of Adolescent Victims of Sexual Violence in Eastern Congo.

Introduction: Eastern Congo has been affected by armed conflict for decades while the rampant use of sexual violence has left many women and girls dealing with a wide range of consequences of sexual violence. For adolescent victims the psychosocial impact of sexual violence is devastating. However, the role of avoidant/disengagement coping and family support on the mental health impact of sexual violence remains unclear.

Older offenders deemed criminally irresponsible in Flanders (Belgium): Descriptive results from a retrospective case note study.

Introduction: In Belgium, offenders who are deemed criminally irresponsible for their criminal actions because of mental illness or intellectual disability are subject to a specific safety measure with the dual objective of protecting society and providing mandated care to the offender. While Belgian law requires that offenders who are deemed criminally irresponsible should be in a hospital, clinic or other appropriate institution outside of prison, in practice, about one-third of all such offenders still reside in prison. Whether imprisoned or living in settings outside prison, there is a dearth of knowledge on the characteristics of the aging population among the criminally irresponsible offenders.

The impact of attachment and depression symptoms on multiple risk behaviors in post-war adolescents in northern Uganda.

Background: We have previously shown that depression symptoms are associated with multiple risk behaviors and that parental attachments are protective against depression symptoms in post-war adolescents. Accumulating literature indicates that low levels of attachment may sensitize individuals to increased multiple risk behaviors when depression symptoms exist. This investigation examined the interactive effects of attachment and depression symptoms on multiple risk behavior.

Toward a culturally sensitive conceptualization of resilience: Participatory research with war-affected communities in northern Uganda.

Resilience research with war-affected populations has long conceptualized resilience as the absence of psychopathology and operationalized it by use of standardized measures. However, literature on resilience increasingly highlights the importance of also including indicators of positively valued functioning as well as contextually sensitive indicators of resilience. This study used a participatory approach to examine the contextual conceptualization of youth resilience in the aftermath of war in northern Uganda, as defined by groups of stakeholders (youths, parents, elders, leaders, teachers) in four communities.

Differential roles of childhood adversities and stressful war experiences in the development of mental health symptoms in post-war adolescents in northern Uganda.

Background: Previous studies have shown a relationship between stressful war experiences and mental health symptoms in children and adolescents. To date, no comprehensive studies on the role of childhood adversities have been conducted with war-exposed adolescents living in post-war, low-resource settings in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 551 school-going adolescents aged 13-21 years old was undertaken four years post-war in northern Uganda.

Mental health of victims of sexual violence in eastern Congo: associations with daily stressors, stigma, and labeling.

Background: The conflict-ridden context of eastern Congo has set the scene for grueling human rights violations, with sexual violence as one of the 'weapons of war'. Currently, sexual violence continues, with a considerable increase in civilian perpetrators. However, little is known regarding the particular impact of different experiences of sexual violence on adolescents' mental health.

The mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors on arrival in the host country.

Despite increasing numbers of unaccompanied refugee minors (UM) in Europe and heightened concerns for this group, research on their mental health has seldom included the factor "time since arrival." As a result, our knowledge of the mental health statuses of UM at specific points in time and over periods in their resettlement trajectories in European host countries is limited. This study therefore examined the mental health of UM shortly after their arrival in Norway (n = 204) and Belgium (n = 103) through the use of self-report questionnaires (HSCL-37A, SLE, RATS, HTQ).

The mediating role of stigmatization in the mental health of adolescent victims of sexual violence in Eastern Congo.

This study aims to explore the factors that explain the mental sequelae of war-related sexual violence and focuses in particular on the role of stigmatization. Drawing on a large-scale quantitative survey undertaken in the war-affected region of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, we analyze how stigmatization mediates the mental health impact of sexual violence on adolescent girls who were victims of rape. Twenty-two secondary schools were randomly selected out of a stratified sample in Bunia, Eastern Congo.

The efficacy of case management with persons who have substance abuse problems: a three-level meta-analysis of outcomes.

Objective: Case management has been widely used as an intervention in the treatment of substance abuse problems. Its effectiveness has been associated with over 450 outcomes, some consistent with case management's traditional functions of linking (treatment tasks) and others typical of treatment outcomes such as substance use (personal functioning).

Method: Meta-analyses were conducted on 21 randomized clinical trials in which we compared the efficacy of case management with standard-of-care conditions and active interventions.

WITHDRAWN: Case management for persons with substance use disorders.

The review has been withdrawn from publication because it is out of date and the authors are currently not available for updating it The editorial group responsible for this previously published document have withdrawn it from publication.

The association between attachment and mental health symptoms among school-going adolescents in northern Uganda: the moderating role of war-related trauma.

Background: The association between attachment and mental health symptoms in adolescents in a post-conflict low resource setting has not been documented.

Methods: We investigated the relationship between parent and peer attachment and posttraumatic stress, depression and anxiety symptoms in a sample of 551 adolescents aged 13-21 years old. Attachment quality was assessed using the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA).

The implementation of life space crisis intervention in residential care and special education for children and adolescents with EBD: an effect study.

When working with children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural disorders, conflicts are a part of daily life. At present, a variety of conflict resolution or conflict management programs, that can be divided into three categories, are described in the literature. A first category contains programs that focus on training for children and adolescents, and are often curriculum-based.

Dealing with the consequences of war: resources of formerly recruited and non-recruited youth in northern Uganda.

Purpose: This article explores resources that help formerly recruited young people in dealing with war-related adversity and subsequent challenges, hence fostering their resilience.

Methods: Self-reports on pertinent resources were collected from 1,008 northern Ugandan youth, of whom 330 had formerly been recruited by the Lord's Resistance Army. Based on the conceptual framework developed by the Psychosocial Working Group, the reported resources were thematically clustered and quantitatively analyzed.

Treatment and Control: A Qualitative Study of Older Mentally Ill Offenders' Perceptions on Their Detention and Care Trajectory.

The life of older mentally ill offenders (OMIOs) is often characterized by successive periods of detention in correctional facilities, admissions to psychiatric services, and unsuccessful attempts to live independently. Through in-depth interviews, eight personal stories from OMIOs under supervision of the commission of social defence in Ghent (Belgium) were analyzed in the phenomenological research tradition. The results of the study reveal that OMIOs had more positive and less negative experiences in prison settings when compared with other institutional care settings.

War-related experiences of former child soldiers in northern Uganda: comparison with non-recruited youths.

Background: Armed conflict imposes huge hardship on young people living in war zones. This study assessed former child soldiers' experience and perception of stress in common war events during the armed conflict in northern Uganda and compares it with their non-recruited counterparts.

Aim: To investigate whether child soldiers experienced more severe exposure to war events, and explore how war might affect youths differently, depending on the co-occurrence of these events.

Coping behaviours and post-traumatic stress in war-affected eastern Congolese adolescents.

This study explores coping strategies used by war-affected eastern Congolese adolescents across age and sex, and the association between post-traumatic stress symptoms and engagement and disengagement coping. Cross-sectional data were collected in 11 secondary schools across four areas in the Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo. A total of 952 pupils (45.

War-related trauma exposure and multiple risk behaviors among school-going adolescents in Northern Uganda: the mediating role of depression symptoms.

Background: The relationship between war-related trauma exposure, depressive symptoms and multiple risk behaviors among adolescents is less clear in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: We analyzed data collected from a sample of school-going adolescents four years postwar. Participants completed interviews assessing various risk behaviors defined by the Youth Self Report (YSR) and a sexual risk behavior survey, and were screened for post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression symptoms based on the Impact of Events Scale Revised (IESR) and Hopkins Symptom Checklist for Adolescents (HSCL-37A) respectively.

Longitudinal follow-up of the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors.

Despite growing numbers of unaccompanied refugee minors (UMs) in Europe, and evidence that this group is at risk of developing mental health problems, there still remain important knowledge gaps regarding the development of UMs' mental health during their trajectories in the host country and, in particular, the possible influencing role of traumatic experiences and daily stressors therein. This study therefore followed 103 UMs from the moment they arrived in Belgium until 18 months later. Traumatic experiences (SLE), mental health symptoms (HSCL-37A, RATS) and daily stressors (DSSYR) were measured at arrival in Belgium, after 6 and 18 months.

Psychotic-like symptoms as a risk factor of violent recidivism in detained male adolescents.

The aim of this study was to prospectively examine whether psychotic-like symptoms (PLSs) are positively associated with violent recidivism and whether this relation is stronger when PLSs co-occur with substance use disorders (SUDs). Participants were 224 detained male adolescents from all youth detention centers in Flanders. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was used to assess PLSs and the number of SUDs.

Beyond child soldiering: the interference of daily living conditions in former child soldiers' longer term psychosocial well-being in northern Uganda.

Given the various developments in former child soldiers' psychosocial well-being over time, the question arises as to which factors are associated with the prevalence of psychological distress. An ongoing debate points to the plausible importance of child soldiering-related and post-child soldiering factors. This study is an exploratory analysis of both types of association with former child soldiers' psychosocial well-being in the longer term.

"It helps me transform in my life from the past to the new": the meaning of resources for former child soldiers.

Although former child soldiers face considerable challenges after their return from the warring faction to the war-affected society, the presence of resources enables many to maintain well-being in the wake of child soldiering. Academic research has recently engaged with identifying these salient resources, but has left the question why they are helpful to former child soldiers largely unaddressed. This study therefore focuses on the meaning underlying certain phenomena that causes them to become resources.

Psychopathic-like traits among detained female adolescents: reliability and validity of the Antisocial Process Screening Device and the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory.

This study examined the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Antisocial Process Screening Device-Self-Report (APSD-SR), the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI), and the YPI-Short Version (YPI-SV) in detained female adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. The proposed three-factor structure of the YPI and YPI-SV was replicated, whereas the proposed three-factor structure of the APSD-SR or alternate models did not yield adequate fit. Overall, reliability indices for the YPI and YPI-SV were higher than those reported for the APSD-SR.

Challenges faced by former child soldiers in the aftermath of war in Uganda.

Purpose: Warfare takes a profound toll of all layers of society, creating multiple and multilevel challenges that impinge on the psychosocial well-being of affected individuals. This study aims to assess the scope and salience of challenges confronting former child soldiers and at identifying additional challenges they face compared to non-recruited young people in war-affected northern Uganda.

Methods: The study was carried out with a stratified random sample of northern Ugandan adolescents (n = 1,008), of whom a third had formerly been recruited (n = 330).

Therapeutic communities for addictions: a review of their effectiveness from a recovery-oriented perspective.

Therapeutic communities (TCs) for addictions are drug-free environments in which people with addictive problems live together in an organized and structured way to promote change toward recovery and reinsertion in society. Despite a long research tradition in TCs, the evidence base for the effectiveness of TCs is limited according to available reviews. Since most of these studies applied a selective focus, we made a comprehensive systematic review of all controlled studies that compared the effectiveness of TCs for addictions with that of a control condition.