Publications by authors named "Trudy M Mooren"

Most studies examining prolonged grief disorder (PGD) in people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic are focused on psychopathology. However, mental health encompasses both absence of psychopathology and presence of well-being. This is the first study examining symptom profiles of early PGD and subjective mental well-being in 266 Dutch adults recently bereaved during the pandemic.

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During peacekeeping missions, military personnel may be involved in or exposed to potentially morally injurious experiences (PMIEs), such as an inability to intervene due to a limited mandate. While exposure to such morally transgressive events has been shown to lead to moral injury in combat veterans, research on moral injury in peacekeepers is limited. We aimed to determine patterns of exposure to PMIEs and associated outcome- and exposure-related factors among Dutch peacekeepers stationed in the former Yugoslavia during the Srebrenica genocide.

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Negative events may not only linger on in the form of intrusive memories in the minds of those directly exposed but also in those who are only indirectly confronted with these events. The aim of the present study was to investigate if intrusions referring to indirectly experienced traumatic events do indeed occur, and to compare their frequency and characteristics to intrusions about directly experienced negative events. Participants (N = 98) were adult postwar offspring of World War Two survivors currently in treatment in one of two clinics specialized in the treatment of war victims.

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Exposure to war and violence has major consequences for society at large, detrimental impact on people's individual lives, and may also have intergenerational consequences. To gain more insight into these intergenerational consequences, research addressing the impact of the Holocaust on offspring is an important source of information. The aim of the current study was to systematically review the mechanisms of intergenerational consequences by summarizing characteristics in Holocaust survivors and their offspring suggested to impact the offspring's mental health.

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Objectives: Given the recent peak in refugee numbers and refugees' high odds of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), finding ways to alleviate PTSD in refugees is of vital importance. However, there are major differences in PTSD treatment response between refugees, the determinants of which are largely unknown. This study aimed at improving PTSD treatment for adult refugees by identifying PTSD treatment response predictors.

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Background: Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a first-line treatment for adults with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some clinicians argue that with refugees, directly targeting traumatic memories through EMDR may be harmful or ineffective.

Aims: To determine the safety and efficacy of EMDR in adult refugees with PTSD (trial registration: ISRCTN20310201).

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Background: Asylum seekers and refugees have been claimed to be at increased risk of developing complex posttraumatic stress disorder (complex PTSD). Consequently, it has been recommended that refugees be treated with present-centred or phased treatment rather than stand-alone trauma-focused treatment. This recommendation has contributed to a clinical practice of delaying or waiving trauma-focused treatment in refugees with PTSD.

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Beneficial effects of attentional bias modification have been claimed for a number of anxiety disorders, but study results are variable. A recent trial in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showed no therapeutic effects. The use of personally relevant and verbal stimuli might increase the efficacy of attentional bias modification.

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Background: Traumatised asylum seekers and refugees are clinically considered a complex population. Discussion exists on whether with this population treatment guidelines for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) should be followed and Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) should be applied, or whether a phased model starting with stabilisation is preferable. Some clinicians fear that trauma-focused interventions may lead to unmanageable distress or may be ineffective.

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