The COVID-19 pandemic caused multiple stressors that may lead to symptoms of adjustment disorder. We longitudinally examined relationships between risk and protective factors, pandemic-related stressors and symptoms of adjustment disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as whether these relationships differed by the time of assessment. The European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) ADJUST Study included = 15,169 participants aged 18 years and above.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe the development and provision of a digital mental health intervention and trauma support platform for victims of political and social repression in Belarus. The Samopomoch platform provides secure and effective support tailored to the needs of such victims, and individuals are provided with access to the service via a modern, encrypted, and protected communication platform. The service involves personal health tracking (e-mental health self-screening), targeted and untargeted client communication (psychoeducation and self-help information), and psychological counselling sessions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health
August 2022
Background: To examine changes in COVID-19 stressors and symptoms of mental disorders in the Republic of Georgia.
Methods: A longitudinal design was used. Following on from our study of May-June 2020, this follow-up study in January-March 2021 was conducted at: (i)an individual level with the same respondents involved in the May-June 2020 study (repeat responders/cohort); and (ii) at a population-wide level, using non-probabilistic sampling.
J Affect Disord
August 2023
Background: The four-item Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) is a widely used screening measure for depression and anxiety.
Objectives: This study aimed to test factor structure and measurement invariance in an adult sample of the general population across seven European countries.
Method: A total sample of 9230 adults, 71.
Background: Contextual factors are essential for understanding long-term adjustment to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the present study investigated changes in mental health outcomes and subjective pandemic-related experiences over time and across countries. The main objective was to explore how psychological responses vary in relation to individual and environmental factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Psychotraumatol
December 2022
= 4,607 trauma-exposed adult participants were recruited from the general population during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.The prevalence for probable posttraumatic stress disorder was 17.7%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper illustrates how and when the personality characteristics of a political leader can initiate and/or become intertwined with societal and political processes. We are not suggesting that "real world" issues and secondary process calculations are not important or should be discarded in favor of psychological considerations. Instead, we suggest that psychoanalysts and psychodynamically informed mental health professionals can contribute to a more complete analysis of political or societal processes and the personalities of leaders who play major roles in them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The complex system of stressors related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the global population, provoking a broad range of psychological reactions. Although numerous studies have investigated the mental health impact of COVID-19, qualitative research and cross-country comparisons are still rare.
Objective: This qualitative study aimed to explore self-perceived challenges and opportunities related to COVID-19 across six European countries.
Background: The decade between the ages of 14 and 25 is a particularly vulnerable period for the development of mental health problems, especially of common mental disorders. Mental health and psychosocial prevention and support services for young people in the Republic of Georgia have been extremely limited, leaving a wide treatment and care gap. Club Synergy was designed as an innovative, pragmatic solution that is responsive to the needs of young people and incorporates all necessary levels of care required (prevention, early identification & intervention, and treatment) into a single, trauma-informed service that uses a transdiagnostic approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: The paper provides insights into the mental health consequences of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic from the Central, Eastern, Nordic, Southern, and Western subregions of Europe, represented by five member countries of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS). On the basis of the existing national research and experiences in these countries, we propose five lessons learned. (1) There is no evidence of a mental health pandemic so far in the countries in focus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Child Psychol Psychiatry
July 2022
The mental health consequences of the war in Ukraine will be enormous. Mental health professionals who are providing care for people in Ukraine, or those resettled elsewhere, may require access to standardized and validated assessment tools. We have developed a repository of mental health measures that are available in Ukrainian, Russian and English and can be accessed at www.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mental health consequences of the war in Ukraine will be enormous. Mental health professionals who are providing care for people in Ukraine, or those resettled elsewhere, may require access to standardized and validated assessment tools. We have developed a repository of mental health measures that are available in Ukrainian, Russian, and English and can be accessed at http://www.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Psychotraumatol
January 2022
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic exposes individuals to multiple stressors, such as quarantine, physical distancing, job loss, risk of infection, and loss of loved ones. Such a complex array of stressors potentially lead to symptoms of adjustment disorder.
Objective: This cross-sectional exploratory study examined relationships between risk and protective factors, stressors, and symptoms of adjustment disorder during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background: Early evidence indicates increased mental health burden arising from COVID-19 and related control measures. The study aim was to examine concern about COVID-19 and its association with symptoms of mental disorders in the Republic of Georgia. A cross-sectional internet-based survey of adults in Georgia using non-probabilistic sampling was used.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Psychotraumatol
August 2020
Background: During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the people in Europe are exposed to self-isolation, quarantine, job loss, risk of contracting COVID-19, or grief of loved ones. Such a complex array of stressors may lead to symptoms of adjustment disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder. This research protocol describes a study launched by the European Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on symptoms of adjustment disorder across European countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has changed life in Europe and globally. The pandemic affects both individuals and the broader society across many domains, including physical and psychological health, the economy and general welfare. The measures taken to counteract the pandemic have significantly altered daily life and, along with the threat of contracting the coronavirus and uncertainties surrounding future developments, created a complex system of stressors with a negative impact on public mental health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There are approximately 1.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine as a result of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Exposure to violence, forced displacement and increased mental disorders are potential risk-factors for alcohol use disorder (AUD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
October 2019
Purpose: There are often high rates of mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries during humanitarian crises, but the prevalence of somatic distress (SD) is underreported in the existing health service research. We aim to examine the patterns of SD among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine, who were forcibly displaced due to the ongoing conflict in the country's eastern region.
Methods: The study design was a cross-sectional survey of 2203 adult IDPs throughout Ukraine.
Eur J Psychotraumatol
December 2018
The European countries have a long history of exposure to large-scale trauma. In the early 1990s the increasing awareness of the consequences of trauma within the mental health community led to the foundation of local societies for psychotraumatology across Europe and the European Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS), which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018. The focus of this article is to describe the current state of care for survivors of trauma in the 15 European countries where ESTSS member societies have been established.
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