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.