Real-world evaluation of an evidence-based telemental health program for PTSD symptoms.

Blended care therapy (BCT), which augments live, video-based psychotherapy sessions with asynchronous digital tools, has the potential to increase access to evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, its effectiveness in diverse, real-world settings is not well-understood. This evaluation aimed to assess clinical outcomes of a BCT program for PTSD symptoms.

Relationship between change in in-vivo exposure distress and PTSD symptoms during exposure therapy for active duty soldiers.

Objective: The current study sought to examine the relationship between changes in distress for items on in-vivo exposure hierarchies and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom change over the course of exposure therapy.

Methods: Active duty army soldiers (N = 108) were recruited from a military base in the U.S.

Biomarkers of endocannabinoid system activation in severe obesity.

Background: Obesity is a worldwide epidemic, and severe obesity is a risk factor for many diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers. Endocannabinoid system (ECS) signaling in the brain and peripheral tissues is activated in obesity and plays a role in the regulation of body weight. The main research question here was whether quantitative measurement of plasma endocannabinoids, anandamide, and related N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), combined with genotyping for mutations in fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) would identify circulating biomarkers of ECS activation in severe obesity.

Getting unstuck: the roles of hope, finding meaning, and rumination in the adjustment to bereavement among college students.

The relationships between hope, bereavement-related rumination, and finding meaning (making sense and benefit finding) were examined in 158 college students who experienced the death of a loved one within the latter half of their lives. Greater rumination was related significantly to lessened psychological well-being, and it mediated the relationship between being able to make sense of the death and superior well-being. Finding benefits in bereavement was associated with positive adjustment for those who recently experienced the death of a loved one, whereas it was related to negative adjustment for those who experienced the death longer ago.

Dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations.

Six studies regarding forgiveness are presented. The Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), a self-report measure of dispositional forgiveness (with subscales to assess forgiveness of self, others, and situations) was developed and demonstrated good psychometric properties. Forgiveness correlated positively with cognitive flexibility, positive affect, and distraction; it correlated negatively with rumination, vengeance, and hostility.

Widowhood and spirituality: coping responses to bereavement.

Nearly half of women age 65 or older are widows and nearly 70% of these women live alone. Because older women are three times more likely than their male counterparts to be widowed, widowhood has been labeled a primarily female phenomenon. This review article has two aims: (a) to discuss the impact of widowhood on the lives of older women and (b) to discuss how religion and spirituality may be used as coping methods for conjugal loss.