A Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing the Efficacy of Group Psychological First Aid.

A randomized controlled trial assessed the efficacy of group psychological first aid (PFA) by comparing the Johns Hopkins RAPID-PFA model with a group conversation condition in 119 participants using the state version of State Trait Anxiety Scale and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedules. Both groups showed similar baseline scores, and after watching a distressing 5-minute video, both groups showed similar significant increases in state anxiety scores and negative affect scores, as well as similar decreases in positive affect scores. However, compared with the group conversation condition, the RAPID-PFA group evidenced significantly lower state anxiety scores at postintervention and at 30-minute delay.

Examining the Positive Cognitive Triad: A Link Between Resilience and Well-Being.

Extant literature links higher levels of resilience to overall well-being; however, the underlying mechanisms explaining this relation are unclear. Replicating and extending the study of Mak, Ng, and Wong, the present study investigated the "positive cognitive triad" of hope, world-view, and self-esteem as a possible mediator between resilience and well-being for the first time in an American sample. Participants ( = 198) completed online surveys of self-esteem, hope, view of the world, and resilience.

Political Affiliation, Probable PTSD, and Symptoms of Depression in Iraq and Afghanistan Combat Veterans: A Pilot Study.

Ideological commitment of military personnel has been associated with mitigating trauma and protecting mental health. This pilot study assessed whether Democratic and Republican political affiliation differentially predicted probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and symptoms of depression in 62 male Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans. The Liberalism-Conservatism Scale, the PTSD Checklist-Military Version (PCL-M), and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were assessment measures.

Intrusive effects of implicitly processed information on explicit memory.

This study described the interference of implicitly processed information on the memory for explicitly processed information. Participants studied a list of words either auditorily or visually under instructions to remember the words (explicit study). They were then visually presented another word list under instructions which facilitate implicit but not explicit processing.