Publications by authors named "Lommen M"

Aims: Problem Management Plus (PM+) has been effective in reducing mental health problems among refugees at three-month follow-up, but there is a lack of research on its long-term effectiveness. This study examined the effectiveness of PM+ in reducing symptoms of common mental disorders at 12-month follow-up among Syrian refugees in the Netherlands.

Methods: This single-blind, parallel, controlled trial randomised 206 adult Syrians who screened positive for psychological distress and impaired functioning to either PM+ in addition to care as usual (PM+/CAU) or CAU alone.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Firefighters face regular exposure to potentially traumatic events, which is associated with the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Despite the high comorbidity, there remains limited understanding of the co-occurrence of PTSD and depression in terms of symptom patterns. Due to the unique stressors added by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is relevant to also understand this comorbidity in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Risky sex behavior is common among online dating users. Understanding the motives behind risky sex behavior might help identify suitable targets for prevention. We developed the Self-regulatory Sex Motives Scale in Online Dating (SSOD) to assess sex motives for casual sex in online dating users.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Excessive fear generalization has been associated with pathological anxiety, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, studies investigating the longitudinal relationship between generalization and the development of anxiety symptomatology are scarce. This study aims to test the predictive value of fear generalization for PTSD symptoms in a high-risk profession sample and to explore the relationship between generalization and neuroticism, which are both linked to PTSD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study explored the relationship between the effectiveness of exposure-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for adolescents with anxiety disorders and factors such as emotional processing and inhibitory learning during sessions.
  • The treatment involved 72 adolescents who participated in a two-week intensive program, and effectiveness was measured using anxiety ratings and goal-related progress, assessing both fear reduction and changes in threat expectancies.
  • Findings revealed a significant reduction in anxiety symptoms, with greater initial fear levels linked to better outcomes, while higher threat expectancies after exposure were associated with poorer progress, indicating the importance of both fear reduction and expectancy change in CBT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Exposure is often limited to homework assignments in routine clinical care. The current study compares minimally-guided (MGE) and parent-guided (PGE) out-session homework formats to the 'golden standard' of therapist-guided in-session exposure with minimally-guided exposure at home (TGE).

Methods: Children with specific phobia (N = 55, age 8-12, 56% girls) participated in a single-blind, randomized controlled microtrial with a four-week baseline-treatment period design.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There is ample evidence showing that childhood maltreatment increases two to three fold the risk of victimization in adulthood. Various risk factors, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, dissociation, self-blame, and alcohol abuse are related to revictimization. Although previous research examined associations between risk factors for revictimization, the evidence is limited and the proposed models mostly include a handful of risk factors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The current systematic review sought to identify quantitative empirical studies that focused on the transdiagnostic factors of intolerance of uncertainty, emotional dysregulation and rumination, and their relation with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The overall research aim was to examine the relationship between these transdiagnostic factors and their relation with depression and PTSD symptoms. The systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Exposure may be especially effective when within exercises, there is a strong violation of threat expectancies and much opportunity for fear reduction. Outcomes of exposure may therefore improve when exposure is conducted in large steps (LargeSE) relative to small steps (SmallSE).

Methods: Children and young people with a specific phobia (SP) (N = 50, age 8-17, 64 % girls) participated in a preregistered single-blind, randomized controlled microtrial comparing LargeSE and SmallSE in a four-week baseline-treatment design.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Many refugees have mental health problems, but it can be hard for them to get help in richer countries.
  • A study was done to see if a program called Problem Management Plus (PM+) could help Syrian refugees in the Netherlands feel better.
  • The results showed that those who used PM+ felt less depressed, anxious, and had fewer PTSD symptoms compared to those who didn’t use it, meaning PM+ is a helpful tool for their mental health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There is established evidence that childhood/adolescent victimization is associated with victimization in adulthood although the underlying mechanisms are not still clear. The current study aimed to systematically review empirical studies examining potential psychological factors linking childhood maltreatment to victimization in adulthood and the gaps in the literature. Following PRISMA protocol, 71 original studies consisting of a total sample of  = 31,633 subjects were analyzed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Theoretical Background: Intolerance of uncertainty plays a central role in anxiety and research suggests that it's an important treatment target. Investigating response to uncertainty using other dimensions than self-report, such as physiological responses, can further the effort to understand the role of uncertainty in anxiety more fully. Mindfulness interventions have become increasingly interesting in their application to anxiety, as they foster acceptance of unpleasant aspects of experience.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Learning tasks have been used to predict why some, and not others, develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after exposure to a traumatic event. There is some evidence from prospective studies in high risk profession samples that reduced extinction learning might represent a marker or even a vulnerability factor for PTSD development.

Objective: Since the evidence is scarce, the aim of this study was to perform a conceptual replication of an earlier prospective study, testing whether pretrauma extinction learning predicts later PTSD symptom severity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

While a significant association between childhood maltreatment and sexual victimization in adulthood has been established in previous research, it is unknown whether this also applies to the context of online dating. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether revictimization is common in online users and which mechanisms mediate this risk. The participants were 413 heterosexual women aged between 18 and 35 who used mobile dating applications in the year before the assessment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Several studies have found evidence of altered cortisol levels in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Based on these findings, it is assumed that these patients may show signs of cortisol dysregulation after trauma. Posttrauma cortisol levels are thus considered a potential biomarker of PTSD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

CBT for anxious youth usually combines anxiety management strategies (AMS) with exposure, with exposure assumed to be critical for treatment success. To limit therapy time while retaining effectiveness, one might optimize CBT by restricting treatment to necessary components. This study tested whether devoting all sessions to exposure is more effective in reducing speech anxiety in youth than devoting half to AMS including cognitive or relaxation strategies and half to exposure.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: There is a lack of research and consensus with respect to long-term effective treatments for trauma-affected refugees. The purpose of this follow-up study of a randomised clinical trial was to investigate the effectiveness of Stress Management (SM) versus Cognitive Restructuring (CR) in treating trauma-affected refugees, six and 18 months post-treatment, respectively.

Methods: From a total of 126 refugees with PTSD, the intention-to-treat sample in the original trial, 74 patients were present at the six-month follow-up (SM; n = 37, CR; n = 37) and 34 patients at the 18-month follow-up (SM; n = 14, CR; n = 20).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of acute kidney injury and chronic renal impairment following branched endovascular aneurysm repair (BEVAR) of complex thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAA) using the Medtronic Valiant Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm stent graft system (MVM), the physician-modified Visceral Manifold, and Unitary Manifold stent graft systems. The objective was to report the acute and chronic renal function changes in patients following complex TAAA aneurysm repair.

Methods: This is an analysis of 139 patients undergoing branched endovascular repair for complex TAAAs between 2012 and 2020.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Individual differences in extinction learning have attracted ample attention of researchers and are under investigation as a marker for the onset of anxiety disorders and treatment response. Unfortunately, the common paradigm for obtaining the extinction rate, which entails aversive stimulus pairings, is subject to practical limitations. Therefore, the present study assessed whether the use of an aversive stimulus is actually needed to get a good estimate of the extinction rate.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Avoidance is a well-established maintenance factor in anxiety-related psychopathology. Individuals prone to anxiety show more maladaptive avoidance responses in conditioning paradigms aimed at avoidance learning, which indicates impairments in safety learning. To what extent avoidance learning is associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is still unclear, despite the logical relevance to the symptomatology.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Current estimates suggest progressively increasing need for rural family medicine and primary care providers in the near future. Predominantly rural states such as South Dakota have even greater difficulty in attracting these providers. Since its founding, the Sanford School of Medicine (SSOM) at the University of South Dakota has designed its curriculum to encourage students to choose these specialties and practice within the state upon completing residency.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Childhood abuse and neglect increase the risk for psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression and anxiety) during adulthood and have been associated with deficits in cognitive control.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Mindfulness-based interventions are effective for treating anxiety but the exact mechanisms behind their effectiveness are not fully understood.
  • Excessive reactivity to uncertainty may be a key factor linking mindfulness practice and reduced anxiety symptoms.
  • A study found that intolerance of uncertainty was a mediator in the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety, but physiological responses to uncertainty did not show a significant connection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • AFM causes sudden muscle weakness, especially in children, and its exact cause is not fully understood despite links to viral infections.
  • A 21-year-old woman experienced progressive weakness, fatigue, and other symptoms after a respiratory illness, with tests showing distinct fluid and imaging results.
  • Recognizing AFM in both kids and adults is essential, as its occurrence is increasing; timely diagnosis and specimen collection can facilitate better understanding and treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Sense of coherence (SOC) has been associated with resilience to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and seems to be a promising factor in primary prevention of PTSD in high risk populations.

Objective: The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Dutch revised Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-R) in a sample of = 527 firefighters.

Method: To investigate the internal structure of this 13-item scale, a Mokken scale analysis and an exploratory factor analysis were conducted (i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF