Post-traumatic stress symptomatology among health care professionals in Croatia.

Post-traumatic stress symptomatology was found in 22 of 25 health care professionals working in postwar Croatia. Assessment of exposure to war trauma and of the subjective impact of this exposure found the former more predictive of post-traumatic stress. Results suggest that the situations faced by health care professionals in war and postwar environments may be considered independent traumatic stressors, and that the symptomatology arising from such exposure may last for years.

The adolescents assessment of family functioning.

The aim of this study was to find out in what way adolescents assess their families and family functioning. An 34-item scale in self-report format was administered to 154 high school students and 34 patients in diagnostic procedure before entering psychotherapy in order to explore basic elements of family functioning (structure, affect, communication; behaviour control, ethic values transmission, intimacy and idealization, and elements of family dysfunction). The results showed that adolescents in general assessed their families as growth and individuation supportive.

Rape, torture, and traumatization of Bosnian and Croatian women: psychological sequelae.

The first 25 Bosnian women admitted to the Zagreb Obstetrics and Gynaecological Clinic or its associated regional psychiatric centers were assessed using both clinical and post-traumatic stress disorder interviews. Most of the women had been multiply traumatized; all had been repeatedly raped. Psychological status was assessed for those women who were not impregnated, for those impregnated who received abortions, and for those impregnated who carried the fetus to term.

Affect attunement, attachment, temperament, and zygosity: a twin study.

A twin study examines the relationship of affect attunement to four factors of development: zygosity, temperament, attachment, and twin preference. Affect attunement occurs when an infant expresses affect and a mother responds cross-modally, matching duration, intensity, and rhythm. A sample of 16, same sex, healthy twins (8 MZ, 8 DZ) and their mothers were recruited at 10 to 12 months of age.