Implementation of an evidence-based trauma-focused treatment for traumatised children and their families during the war in Ukraine: a project description.

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022 led to an increase of traumatic events and mental health burden in the Ukrainian general population. The (ongoing) traumatisation can have a crucial impact on children and adolescents as they are especially vulnerable for developing trauma-related disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Depression. To date, these children have only very limited access to trauma-focused evidence-based treatments (EBTs) by trained mental health specialists in Ukraine.

Treatment expectancy, working alliance, and outcome of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with children and adolescents.

Background: It has been shown that positive treatment expectancy (TE) and good working alliance increase psychotherapeutic success in adult patients, either directly or mediated by other common treatment factors like collaboration. However, the effects of TE in psychotherapy with children, adolescents and their caregivers are mostly unknown. Due to characteristics of the disorder such as avoidant behavior, common factors may be especially important in evidence-based treatment of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), e.

Psychophysiological characteristics of pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder during script-driven traumatic imagery.

Background: Psychophysiological alterations such as elevated baseline levels and hyperresponsivity in cardiac, electrodermal, and facial muscle activity have been observed in adults with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There are only few, inconclusive studies investigating psychophysiological responses in children and adolescents with PTSD.

Objective: This cross-sectional study sought to examine if autonomic variables, facial electromyography (EMG), and self-reported anxiety at baseline, while listening to neutral and idiosyncratic trauma scripts, differ between minors with a trauma history and PTSD, and a traumatized control (TC) group without PTSD.

Psychophysiological characteristics of PTSD in children and adolescents: a review of the literature.

This review summarizes studies investigating psychophysiological alterations associated with pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The authors conducted a computer-based search in the databases PsycINFO, PSYNDEXplus, and Medline. Additional studies were retrieved using a pyramid scheme.