Publications by authors named "Marianne S Birkeland"

Young people with post-traumatic stress disorder experience difficulties in social and interpersonal domains. We examined whether the best-evidenced treatments of PTSD for children and young people (Trauma-focussed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing; aged 5-25) improve social or interpersonal factors in randomised controlled trials, compared to a comparator condition.: The review was preregistered on PROSPERO (CRD42023455615; 18th August 2023).

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Research is increasingly highlighting the role of negative trauma-related appraisals in child and adolescent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The cognitive model of PTSD claims that an essential mechanism of treatment is a reduction in these appraisals. The current systematic review with meta-analysis investigated the extent to which psychological treatments for PTSD reduce negative trauma-related appraisals in children and adolescents.

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The existing theories of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have inspired large volumes of research and have contributed substantially to our current knowledge base. However, most of the theories are of a qualitative and verbal nature, and may be difficult to evaluate and compare with each other. In this paper, we propose that one way forward is to use computational modelling to formulate more precise theories of PTSD that can be evaluated by (1) assessing whether the model can explain fundamental phenomena related to PTSD, and (2) comparing simulated outcomes with real data.

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Background: Previous meta-analyses of psychological interventions for adult post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) did not investigate whether efficacy is diminished in individuals with PTSD related to multiple (vs single) traumatic events. We aimed to assess whether treatment efficacy would be lower in randomised controlled trials involving multiple-event-related PTSD versus single-event-related PTSD.

Methods: For this meta-analysis, we searched PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and PTSDpubs from database inception to April 18, 2023.

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Background: An innovative approach to child trauma treatment in which caregivers are allocated treatment tasks has shown promising results, but less is known about the bidirectional associations between caregiver and child symptoms during treatment.

Methods: Eighty-two child-caregiver dyads who participated in the parent-led therapist-assisted Stepping Together for Children after Trauma (ST-CT) were included (child age: 7-12 years, mean = 9.9 years).

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Background: This study aims to provide a better understanding of the individual impact of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) on functional impairment in trauma-exposed children and adolescents. Identifying PTSS that have the most impact on functional impairment can broaden our understanding of post-trauma reactions and guide the selection of treatment components and techniques required to help patients to restore functioning following trauma exposure.

Method: Utilizing relative importance analyses, unique shared variance of each DSM-5 PTSS with functional impairment were estimated in clinical samples of 3400 Norwegian (M = 14.

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Background: Previous meta-analyses of psychotherapies for children and adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) did not investigate whether treatment efficacy is diminished when patients report multiple (versus single) traumas.

Aims: To examine whether efficacy of psychological interventions for paediatric PTSD is diminished when patients report multiple (versus single) traumas.

Method: We systematically searched PsycInfo, MEDLINE, Web of Science and PTSDpubs on 21 April 2022 and included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) meeting the following criteria: (a) random allocation; (b) all participants presented with partial or full PTSD; (c) PTSD is the primary treatment focus; (d) sample mean age <19 years; (e) sample size ≥ 20.

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Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) has recently been added to the ICD-11 diagnostic system for classification of diseases. The new disorder adds three symptom clusters to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to disturbances in self-organization (affect dysregulation, negative self-concept, and disturbances in relationships). Little is known whether recommended evidence-based treatments for PTSD in youth are helpful for youth with CPTSD.

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Background: The study examined the psychometric properties of the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen 2 (CATS-2) as a measure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) according to DSM-5 and (Complex) PTSD following the ICD-11 criteria in children and adolescents (7-17 years).

Methods: Psychometric properties were investigated in an international sample of traumatized children and adolescents ( = 283) and their caregivers ( = 255). We examined the internal consistency (α), convergent and discriminant validity, the factor structure of the CATS-2 total scores, latent classes of PTSD/Complex PTSD (CPTSD) discrimination, as well as the diagnostic utility using ROC-curves.

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Background: Characteristics of traumatic events may be associated with the level and specific manifestation of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). This study examined the differences and similarities between overall levels, profiles and networks of PTSS after sexual trauma, domestic violence, community violence, non-interpersonal trauma, sudden loss or serious illness of a loved one, and severe bullying or threats.

Methods: PTSS were measured in a clinical sample of 4,921 children and adolescents (6-18 years old, M = 14.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has represented a burden to communities worldwide. Research indicates that this burden is not equally distributed in the community, and vulnerable groups, such as violence-exposed individuals may pay a particularly high prize. Perceived social support is known to buffer against negative effects of trauma and adversity, but it is not clear whether this is the case during times of social restrictions and lockdowns.

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Generalized trust, the belief that most other people can be trusted, has positive consequences for health and wellbeing. An increased sense of community is often seen in times of crisis or disaster, but it is unclear whether this is the case in the COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives of the current study were to assess whether generalized trust increased in an early pandemic phase compared to pre-pandemic levels, and whether trust was lower in individuals who felt particularly threatened or burdened in the pandemic.

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Most interventions for men who have acted violently toward their partner have been conducted as group interventions within a criminal justice context. Therefore, few studies have examined individual psychotherapy and how such interventions may reduce partner violence. In this study, we aimed to describe changes in violence, and changes in clinical distress in men undergoing individual psychotherapy targeting their use of partner violence, at a clinic organized within a psychosocial health care context.

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Background: There is an urgent need for knowledge about the mental health consequences of the ongoing pandemic. The aim of this study was to identify vulnerability factors for psychological distress and reduced life satisfaction in the general population. Furthermore, we aimed to assess the role of COVID-related worries for psychological distress and life satisfaction.

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Background: Previous research suggest that rumination and poor social relationships contribute to the maintenance of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) after traumatic events. Less is known about how these factors work together. The aim of this study was to assess the association between ruminative coping style and long-term PTSS, and to determine whether perceived social support and loneliness can attenuate or potentiate this association, respectively.

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Many studies show that perceived social support protects against the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in the aftermath of trauma, but less is known about support in relation to PTSS in trauma therapy. This study examined associations between perceived social support and PTSS in children and adolescents during trauma therapy. Parallel process latent growth curve modeling was used to examine trajectories of perceived social support and PTSS over five measurement waves in a sample of 156 patients, aged between 10 and 18 years (M age = 15.

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: The empirical literature of network analysis studies of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) has grown rapidly over the last years. : We aimed to assess the characteristics of these studies, and if possible, the most and least central symptoms and the strongest edges in the networks of PTSS. : The present systematic review, conducted in PsycInfo, Medline, and Web of Science, synthesizes findings from 20 cross-sectional PTSS network studies that were accepted for publication between January 2010 and November 2018 (PROSPERO ID: CRD42018112825).

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On 6 December 2019 we start the 10th year of the , a full Open Access journal on psychotrauma. This editorial is part of a special issue/collection celebrating the 10 years anniversary of the journal where we will acknowledge some of our most impactful articles of the past decade (also discussed below and marked with * in the reference list). In this editorial the editors present a decennial review of the field addressing a range of topics that are core to both the journal and to psychotraumatology as a discipline.

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Objective: Exposure to violence during childhood can have severe long-term consequences for social relationships. In the current study, we sought to disentangle some of the phenomena involved by utilizing a network approach to study the perceptions of aspects of social landscapes in young adulthood of victims of childhood violence.

Method: We used network analysis to describe the connections between perceived positive social support, barriers to social support, violence-related shame, childhood family cohesion, and perceived negative responses from others for 443 individuals exposed to childhood violence.

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Unaccompanied refugee minors are a particularly vulnerable group. The aim of this study is to increase our knowledge about possible pathways to well-being and integration for unaccompanied refugee minors as they strive to establish new lives in a host county. The present study followed a group of youth who fled to Norway without their caregivers at three time points; 6 months (n = 95; M age = 13.

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Background: Trauma and traumatic bereavement have well-known consequences for mental health, but little is known about long-term adjustment, particularly with respect to health-protective factors.AimsTo assess the levels of anxiety/depression and perceived social support among the survivors and the bereaved 26 years after the Scandinavian Star ferry disaster compared with expected levels from the general population.

Method: Anxiety/depression and social support were assessed in face-to-face interviews with the survivors and the bereaved (N = 165, response rate 58%).

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Natural disasters, technological disasters, and terrorist attacks have an extensive aftermath, often involving society's institutions such as the legal system and the police. Victims' perceptions of institutional trustworthiness may impact their potential for healing. This cross-sectional study investigates institutional trust, health, and social support in victims of a disaster that occurred in 1990.

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Rationale: Shame related to childhood violence can be detrimental to mental and physical health. Shame may erode social bonds.

Objective: In this study we tested whether loneliness is an important pathway between violence-related shame and health problems.

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