Social network responses to victims of potentially traumatic events: A systematic review using qualitative evidence synthesis.

Background: A substantial number of qualitative studies examined how adult victims of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) experienced support provided by family members, friends, colleagues, and other significant others in the informal network. Importantly, the large majority of qualitative studies focused on the perceived support of victims of specific events such as sexual offences, partner violence, homicide, accidents and disasters. Although it is likely that across specific PTEs there are similarities as well as differences in experienced support from the informal network, to date no systematic review synthesized the results of qualitative studies on support from the informal network following various types of PTEs.

The Key Characteristics and Role of Peer Support in the Aftermath of Victimization: A Scoping Review.

Topic: Currently, research into the key elements and role of peer support in the aftermath of victimization is limited. This study reviews the types of evidence available, clarifying key concepts in the literature, examining how research is conducted and identifying key characteristics or factors related to peer support in the aftermath of a victimization experience.

Method: A scoping review was performed for peer-reviewed papers using predefined search terms.